Vice Media Files For Bankruptcy, May Follow In BuzzFeed News’ Footsteps

It appears Vice Media could soon be following in the footsteps of BuzzFeed News, which announced its sudden shutdown last month. Recently, the former confirmed it was filing for bankruptcy and could soon be sold to a consortium for far below its peak value.

This revelation marks the possible demise of another popular news site in the online marketplace. Back in 2017, the company was valued at a staggering US$5.7 billion—a stark contrast to the US$255 million sale it’s just agreed to.

Most of Vice Media’s problems stemmed from several failed expansions into television in the era of a challenging media landscape, which BuzzFeed News Founder Jonah Peretti described as “a slowdown in digital advertising, and changing audience habits.”

Co-CEOs Bruce Dxon and Hozefa Lokhandwala said in a statement that by speeding up the sale process of Vice Media in the next “two to three months,” the company would be able to begin a “healthy and successful next chapter.”

At the moment, the site said it intends to keep paying its remaining employees throughout the process and will keep top management in place. Interestingly, this could mean that the original founder, Shane Smith, may continue at the helm.

While it’s uncertain if Vice Media will continue running in its current form, there certainly is a pattern of newsrooms all over the globe suffering in recent years. With giants like NPR, CNN, and ABC News carrying out layoffs, will firms be forced to reconsider how the online world works?

[via Intelligencer and NPR, cover image via Timon Schneider | Dreamstime.com]