Vice - The Death of A Billion Dollar Media Empire

Deserved?
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/ kirayt
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#vice #2023 #documentary

[@reetodd9103]

Early vice would literally just be some college journalist dropped into some war zone or drug den with a Craig’s-list camera man and would have incredible stories

[@RichieRouge206]

Very interesting indeed! Well presented video dude

[@carbon-based-lifeform9172]

George soros bought part of vice and its been trash ever since

[@The-Negative-Commentator]

Shit they were legit now they just another news outlet

[@BandoBrain]

😊

[@reetodd9103]

@@G3EE2FII5TTTTED yeah they all seemed really new too and didn't know how to process some of the stuff or just be like "wait THIS is a meth lab? oh gosh"

[@keyqchan]

Vice went from credible journalistic to basically Buzzfeed.

[@picklechin2716]

No they didn't.

[@Itsthebikeman]

Nah.

[@Kinimodes]

Clearly you've never seen their conflict reporters.

[@deeznutz8320]

​@@KinimodesThats the only half decent thing they drop

[@nomanejane5766]

​@@deeznutz8320you. PROBABLY haven't watched recently

[@Kv-nb1gm]

Vice had once the best war journalism. It's crazy how hard vice went down. Good video. I always questioned why it turned so bad, we needed that journalism on the ground. I miss it

[@lukeknight1133]

more than just that

[@brmf4346]

True, I associate much of my early adulthood with Vice.

[@Bomboclat20246]

Than pay for it dufus

[@meselmdor1]

Isobel Yeung is an amazing journalist!

[@dm2060]

You miss it, but will you pay for it?

[@MultiSciGeek]

There was a sweet spot around 2016 where they made the same 2011 provocative content, but with production levels on par to today. If they just kept that up without scaling too fast, they would have absolutely thrived on Netflix.

[@milascave2]

It was SO uneven. Sometimes you would get a video that was both educational and beautiful, covering obscure yet interesting and important topics. Other times, it was like "Guy in London who dresses like a unicorn and takes a lot of drugs." More like reality TV for stoners.

[@themugwump33]

They legit did a “celebrity deaths - could it have actually been murder??” show where their sources were literally “some people on 4 Chan”.

[@Melnokina.-.]

Sounds like reddit or tumblr

[@Intestine_Ballin-ism]

​@@Melnokina.-.everything on there is downstream from 4chan anyway

[@billvolk4236]

The Onion's videos that parody Vice (called "Edge") are absolutely pitch-perfect and probably the best video content they've ever made other than Sex House.

[@ragnabob]

Thanks for making this! I'm right in the center of your story regarding the audience Vice used to have and that they lost. Such a shame, but great video man!!

[@punchtalestudio]

When you get Disney as an investor you know it’s doomed

[@HankHill1]

Except Disney didn't have anything to do with why they failed..

[@Sabotageking]

@@HankHill1maybe not but Disney’s woke. Vice when woke. What rhymes with woke?

[@syntax2004]

@@Sabotageking bwoke?

[@Aliens1337]

@@Sabotageking People still unironically say "woke" in 2023. Sorry to burst your bubble, Barbie is the highest grossing movie of 2023, so clearly going woke doesn't go broke. But hey, that doesn't fit the narrative of Internet man childs who can't think for themselves.

[@Sabotageking]

@@Aliens1337 what did I say about Barbie ??? Goofy. Anyways, I’m pretty sure Barbie flopped along with little mermaid. But I don’t know if you’ve heard about the new snow white movie that’s coming out… with Brett Cooper looks like a great movie. I would check it out if I were you 🤗 Don’t get angry wokie I’m just being facetious.😉

[@jeffyboi6969]

Vice used to seem to me to be a very "independent", we'll cover what we want and say the things we want to say, to a company that became the EXACT opposite of its upbringing and turned into a corporation instead of a voice of people who wants to learn/investigate interesting things.

[@dannibble]

Rupert Murdoch is why. The man is a human cancer. Nobody should own a monopoly on media.

[@_Twink]

They were always fake and disingenuous.

[@underarmbowlingincidentof1981]

I mean they still cover the things nobody else dares to touch which is crazy. Just this week they put out a video critisizing israels ultra-nationalist front... Their reports in the chinese run jungle exploitation was also top-notch too. Yeah they have some stuff I really don't care about but just don't watch that?

[@trixonic6934]

@@_TwinkI don’t see it like that. How so?

[@user-bs1lr8nx1h]

vultures and wolves like new fresh meat or and like vampires like new fresh blood and making a new vampire

[@bloodsalt]

Kira bro, I haven’t been to the channel in ages (back when I was obsessed with the circus that was Dreamworld). I’m so blown away by your docu-expose videos. They’re really well edited and thought out, I’ve been binging for the past 2 hours! Keep up the great work 🤘

[@PEACEPISTONS]

Given how many employees Vice had and the number of global offices, their production value was meagre, and the amount of content they put out didn't match the size of their operation. I've seen independent one-man operation KZbinrs who put out more content and of a higher quality so the real question is why did they need so many employees and why such a big network? Something doesn't add up.

[@nicholasbrown668]

I've literally never seen a documentary youtuber embedded with Ukrainian units or ISIS but alright

[@juliusnovachrono4370]

I honestly still can remember Isabelle's documentary on North Korea and China because of how incredible they were. It really showed the power of what journalism could do by giving information to people that needed to be told.

[@durshurrikun150]

You mean the power of fascism and western chauvinism, because western presstitutes such as her do not do journalism

[@Chewie316]

If Isobel had to leave she'd be picked up by one of the mainstream outlets. She's basically Christanne Amanpour of this generation.

[@ralph2157]

still makes me wonder how she could walk with those giant balls of steel in between her legs

[@eng3d]

That was propaganda

[@everrest8830]

@@eng3d how exactly was it propaganda, the events recorded happened and that's not a secret.

[@ITSAGIRRAFE1]

I remember discovering VICE as a university student in the early 2010’s. Good memories watching their documentaries on my broken laptop till the early hours of the morning 😢

[@sirsancti5504]

Ah, student's life.. Such a hard time to go through! /s

[@counterfeitt]

old ass

[@rfcbass6810]

You remember the early 10's? You OG!

[@ITSAGIRRAFE1]

@@rfcbass6810 yup the old intro with the old tuktuk bus

[@stevee8472]

Vice, one of the first examples of "get woke and go broke"

[@willyd2404]

i wil never forget about vice.i have so much gratitude for alot of content of theirs i have consumed. its has definitely exposed me to so much stuff i would have never been too otherwise. they may be going down. but i hope it means the rise of a future generation of something similar, hopefully future adventurers into this niche world, can be done better learning from vices mistakes..

[@darkwoodmovies]

Vice was such a great news source back in the day. Like "The Hermit Kingdom" was absolutely insane and the most hardcore journalism I've ever seen. They made so many hard-hitting documentaries that exposed the worst and most interesting parts of humanity. I had so much respect for them, and IMO it's the type journalism this world desperately needs. Thankfully, a few of their amazing staff are still fighting the good fight and making great content to this day.

[@Megan-kl1od]

Could you point me towards the people who are still making great content?

[@badinbrothers4931]

It was the worst. They were biased, angled news that destroyed livelihoods. They can go get f*cked for all I care

[@putnamehereholdmadoodle]

​@@grapesurgeonbecause they put to much political shit in there.

[@galador8089]

@@putnamehereholdmadoodle vice was always political lol

[@putnamehereholdmadoodle]

@@galador8089 yeah but trump came into office and they went retarded as did many news outlets. Vice chose to dig.there hole.

[@JJSFC]

This has been coming. I was a freelance writer for one of Vice’s niche sports sites from 2013-2017 and they got rid of all of us freelance writers working on that site without warning. It was also an absolute nightmare getting back the money I was owed. It was fun while it lasted but things have been going downhill and pretty fast.

[@monsterbnt]

I had a same experience with them as photographer.... They still owe me some money....

[@8c4e]

niche sports

[@JJSFC]

@@monsterbnt sorry to read that. Hope you get that resolved but I wouldn’t know what to suggest at this point.

[@monsterbnt]

@@JJSFC my lawyer is taking care of that.

[@_nick_d]

It was really weird when they started askin for donations like Wikipedia does, warning sign something was happening

[@soffici1]

You're the new Vice, Ash Keep up the excellent work!

[@doctorfate6414]

Kira, dude you are awesome! Your work is like freaking the fun version of school i wish we had today. Listening to your vids is very informative and with good understanding and backing to back it up.

[@threenations566]

I can remember being really big into vice media 2010-2014 because of their investigative work - hell the quote from the Brazilian drug cartel enforcer “people are corrupt because money speaks the loudest” is still ingrained in my head to this day. In 2015 I started to drop off it due to returning to study and it becoming a bit….bland and then I stopped watching all together in 2016 and 17. I felt that whereas before it would explore both sides of the story really well or explore the other side of the story that we don’t often see (especially in the drug trade and ISIS) it just explored one side and one side only and became framed as though that was the *only* view and it was the *right* view.

[@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917]

Funny thing about the illegal drug trade is that it uses the same tactics to control people as militaries do. They target people when they're young, and offer them a ridiculous amount of money in exchange for loyalty. If your options are making $200/week in a dead-end job, or making $1000/week if you do everything that Sergeant Joey says, you'd pick the latter, even it means risking death and killing others. There's a Mexican rapper who said that's pretty much how he got involved with the cartel. It was either dissolve corpses in tubs of acid or work at McDonald's, so he chose the former.

[@saltiney8578]

@@kemist578 Yes your technically right but obviously thats what the OP was referring to, telling "both sides to a story" doesnt have to literally mean only 2 sides its more like a saying, Telling both sides to a story mostly means not only looking at it from one direction of course its almost impossible to cover a story from every angle and every aspect but doing at least 2 perspectives is a million times better journalism than doing it from 1 perspective and portraying that perspective as the right one.

[@daintywalrus4226]

I remember seeing Vice videos like Inside North Korea and their other sort of real renegade journalism "old Vice" style and it being my dream job. I actually used to admire how cool that sort of content was and it made me want to be those people who did that. Then we got the clear political slants and constant garbage articles about things like "How to Make Delicious Cocktails With Jizz" and I noped the fuck out. Whoever used to be the higher ups there who made the decisions kamikazed what was a once absolutely awesome company into the ground at such a high rate it was incredible and I can't believe they didn't even remotely try to course correct until it was far too late.

[@spkz0r]

So you missed out on like 100 good videos atleast then? You dont have to consume EVERYTHING someone produce. You can chose and pick.

[@kodosquea1994]

@kemist578 t. autist

[@Draconisrex1]

It was never worth a billion as an on-going business. It was pure speculation and hype. This is common with over-hyped start-ups or one-trick companies with marginal products that become short-term fads.

[@alext8020]

There’s-no-need-to-use-so-many-dashes.

[@GoodfellasX21]

Are you gay for hyphens?

[@oohdannyboy]

​​​@@alext8020 Every single use of the hyphen is correct though. To not use it would be grammatically incorrect. Now I wouldn't use it myself but I wouldn't call out someone for using it correctly. Also it's likely it was all autocorrected.

[@nerdikles]

Ah like tesla.

[@Briggbee]

It actually was, they just went pro culture instead of remaining counter culture.

[@WorldRaceMVG]

OG Vice on KZbin felt like what Channel 5 News feels like now

[@brittbarlow6111]

I remember, when Stephen Colbert said that Shane Smith was the smartest businessman in the world!😂😂😂😂😂😂 😂😂

[@cutekittensmeow]

I think Vice covered a lot of really interesting topics and it's sad they went down this path.

[@tomlxyz]

the truth is that neither consumers nor adverdisers want to pay for that

[@MrSomethingElse]

On The Cover Of The Rolling Stone!

[@0002pA]

@@tomlxyz I don't think so. They surely could have implemented some kind of monetization model where fully uncensored versions of their documentaries and investigations were available for a monthly fee. Or they could have partnered with places like Nebula. But they chose not to, they decided to just sell to big companies instead.

[@namename-ok2nk]

@@0002pA Patreon covers rent and groceries, for the big performers. It's a hobby for wealthy dilettantes. Its advertising or nothing for the scale they were working at, or otherwise make an attractive portfolio to rope in some marks at big corporations, who'll later, inevitably, have concerns of their rate of investment not meeting expectations.

[@0002pA]

@@namename-ok2nk Plenty of big media outlets have a type of subscription, I'm sure Vice could have found something fitting.

[@KarlJames1]

When vice was in his prime nothing could stop it. But sadly everything comes to an end. I will still remember when they made some of the best documentary I have seen still to this day

[@salvadorpalma8173]

Shit, they had a doc about non-offending pedophiles. One about sex workers who worked exclusively with disabled people... So many good pieces. They really went down the drain in recent years though. So, at this point, there is no loss at all.

[@KarlJames1]

@@salvadorpalma8173 those were all fire my favourite one is when they buy guns from the black market and test them after and when they had an interview with a isisi fighter those were the best I have seen and they presented them with a funny tone

[@underarmbowlingincidentof1981]

@@KarlJames1 or the one about chinese corrupt exploitation of the jungles where they just go undercover in the middle of the jungle pretending to be rich chinese businesspeople. I mean one slip up and they'd never ever left that jungle. Or when the one journalist calmly reported on his own torture in the Donbas!! That was crazy. Just calmly going "yeah here they hit me but it was alright I mean". Like wtf lol

[@AL-lh2ht]

@@grapesurgeon Lack they literally recently had several coverage reports.

[@spkz0r]

Their Ukraine/Russia reports in the last 5 years have been amazing. I think you are just emotionally raging about their prime. They have had shitty videos and good videos every year since they started.

[@kleenbeats]

Imagine opening a small traditional Italian restaurant that all the locals love. Soon after you expand to a chain restaurant format (you lose a few customers, but the sauce still tastes the same). Then, without notice, you convert all your stores to Costcos (that’s the vice story). Vice was interesting when it was neutral and making light hearted social commentary , once it started taking a side it was game over!

[@matf6661]

Vice was arguably more left leaning in the early days than it is now

[@kleenbeats]

@@matf6661 It depends on your timeline of what “left leaning” means to you and your personal distinction of what you define as appropriate satirical boundaries. Something like “The vice guide to Picking up Chicks” from 2005 would have made the left laugh in the late 90s (based on similar Vice magazine articles of that era, that I own). In 2000-2010, there seemed to be a narrowing of personal satirical boundaries with the growth of the internet. At this point people are starting to pick apart the article online and expressing their grievances with specific personal cliches, while still acknowledging broader positive sentiment for the article itself. The start of this Reddit comment from 2010 is a good example “As entertaining and painfully truthful as this is, a few bits bother me” (google the quote and you will find the thread). If that article was released today, the writer would be cancelled and the publisher disowned… by the same group who would have laughed at it over 20 years ago. This one example sums up much of todays social and political confusion to me.

[@lotus_flower2001]

@@matf6661 more like left leaning FOR the early days. Being left leaning used to be a lot less unbearable.

[@michelhv]

In 1997 Montréal, I bought the second issue of Vice. Just another local rag; it had a feature on Helium.

[@JBBrickman]

I remember when I found vice like 6 or maybe even 8 yrs ago and was super impressed by their North Korea and Middle East videos along with some others, I mean I haven’t been looking at anything vice related videos in a few years because I just thought they dropped in quality and maybe even became biased and some stuff like that but I mean I think they left at least a decent legacy. There are some really good documentaries and stories by them.

[@andrejpsaila]

The North Korea documentary was amazing. They used to be great

[@stang9806]

This is what winning looks like is still one of my favorite documentaries

[@tuckerbugeater]

@@andrejpsaila And all that content for free

[@notsocrates9529]

The Liberia video was so cool to me, what happened to them? Rhetorical, I already "know".

[@Meowface.]

Shane smith traveling through the Russian wilderness looking for a North Korean logging camp was peak Vice for me

[@BiodegradableYTP]

While it's a shame Vice has ended the way it has, it will remain a fond memory for me. I followed them for a little over 10 years and watched them produce some really great stuff during that time and how it has inspired others to pick up the torch. Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. :'^)

[@MAGAMAN]

They were a propaganda machine aimed at stupid people. They became so obviously one sided and posted so much easily verified lies that the only reason they stayed in business is because of funding by people who wanted to push their political agenda.

[@MrAlious]

Very wise words man, thats an amazing way to look at it

[@nicholasbrown668]

vice isn't dead and they still do an assload of war reporting

[@Blazemon9999]

Vice crashed because they hired a bunch of young glorified bloggers to be their next generation of journalists. Vice went from cool stories to woke agenda pushes mascarading as journalism. I miss the old school late night channel 7 show up here in Toronto...just another sign of the times

[@ogami1972]

As an older guy who has seen media change, I am looking forward to seeing these Vice journalists move into the "evening anchor" positions. I recall watching ABC's late night news program and being charmed by this young rapscallion "Anderson Cooper". It will be fun to see how the Vice crew will change journalism in the next 30 years. Also: I first read Vice with the "Kill Your Parents" issue. Those were better times.

[@bunsw2070]

You think Anderson Cooper is a journalist? Vice produced sensationalist nonsense for Libtards with zero critical thinking skills. Keep getting your boosters as soon as you qualify. The FDA just approved a new booster for a particular variant. Their logic was that was the variant they'd done the most research on therefore that's the one that should be given. Keep mindlessly following your masters and we'll all be done with you soon enough.

[@Hereforthecomments_]

Dreaming are we?

[@anthonycbudd]

lol wut???

[@finnmcginn9931]

These vice journalists will be serving coffee, shooting smack, or smoking pole. Anchors aren't journalists, they are talking heads.

[@thedkboyz]

Vice was great. Absoloutely amazing documentaries about stuff nobody else DARED to even mention existed. Then, well, the "we just had sex" sh*t was badically thr beginning of the end.

[@johan13135]

They also had a track record of some really shitty subtitles, sometimes to the point that it totally changed the context of what the person said. And this has been pointed out time again in the comments section

[@thedkboyz]

@johan13135 can't remember if it was vice or buzzfeed who did that with someone working at a maid cafe in Japan. She said she loved her work, whereas the subs went something like "I've been groped and men seem very demeaning". Was incredibly confusing to watch, as someone who speaks both English and Japanese.

[@tigerwoods373]

I remember seeing one documentary where this woman went to Afghanistan and talked to taliban and the people there. I just thought holy shit, the balls on this woman. Hopefully those journalists found better jobs.

[@NickyBlue99]

They made a video about a guy who has shecks with bugs. Abu Hajar is rolling in his grave.

[@_Twink]

The 3 founders were disingenuous grifters.

[@me0101001000]

Pity. I used to really like Vice. They did some truly impressive journalism. But it seems they lost their way. I only hope more journalists can do what they attempted to do, and don't fail the way they did.

[@MeatyZeeg]

I think Unreported World is the closest to old school Vice

[@marasmusine]

I read Vice occassionally, but stopped completely after they put Naomi Wu at risk.

[@ZergRadio]

I use to like vice once upon a time, but when they did some docs about South Africa and it was so bias, (U know all the stuff about BAD WHITE PEOPLE!) and deliberately showing camera angles to make the lie real. That is the day I hoped for the destruction of vice. Cure them into hell!

[@_Twink]

Their way was exploiting employees and lying to readers.

[@trixonic6934]

@@MeatyZeegI agree. Hopefully they continue down the path they’ve created and don’t sell out and sell if they grow to that point. But it seems that is inevitable at this point

[@knalt7628]

Very well made. Great job 👍🏼

[@tomobrien5345]

I have fond memories of getting the free magazine from a local record shop. The themed issues (sex, war, drugs) had amazing articles with the vice staff putting themselves in very real & often dangerous situations for the articles.

[@mukdukk]

I love this new direction your channel has taken. Solid content, free of fluff and well edited. Glad to see you growing bud.

[@mukdukk]

Oh, and thanks for reminding me unsub to Vice 😅

[@desertstar223]

@@mukdukk who cares? you dont matter!

[@chinaman1]

Feels like it's the new vice.

[@vinvinvichii]

@@desertstar223lol look at you. “Who cares?” Lol Woah. Watch out we gotta bad ass over here. You sound like a tough guy having a mental health crisis.

[@DavidAbyssal]

This is a copycat of SunnyV2 Channel...

[@WallyTony]

As a former employee I can tell you we all knew this once the channel was made.

[@salvadorpalma8173]

I didn't even know they had a channel. I unsubbed from the YT channel some time before I guess. The content became so bad.

[@Marauder1981]

Who let the SJWs in?

[@zondervonstrek]

The TV channel never made any sense, they went into TV when many had already left and all were struggling.

[@Jartran72]

@@Marauder1981 You realise you are a SJW right? You are just fighting for the rights version of it. Constantly complaining about them also puts you in the same game. You are just the opposition.

[@GorillionDollars]

@@Jartran72 Absolute horseshit. This is typical blue team vs red team drivel. You can clearly be a regular socially liberal dude who calls out virtue signalling and woke crap when he sees it. I have never leaned politically right my entire life and have witnessed Vice's transformation throughout the years and I can tell you that it adopted a certain agenda post-OWS.

[@Frank-it9kl]

At a certain point a company does need to grow. If you've grown to the point where you cannot grow further without investors, STOP growing. Just own the company, make profit, and put it in your pocket. Investors demand growth at all costs until the company begins to lose face, quality goes down and the customers leave. Its the same story over n over n over. OR if the investors can't buy, they'll copy you and undercut you. They'll take a loss until they take all you're business then jack the prices up after you close your doors.

[@sanghoonlee5171]

How insane is that Gavin Mcinnes is one of the founders of Vice. Shows just how different the company must have been, at first.

[@chrisstroud1915]

Kira, your documentary videos are truly great. I really appreciate the amount of work and effort that goes into them and your narration style really makes it something special.

[@ingarsw]

Vice really showed me how unfair this world is for a lot of people. Thanks kira for explaining this.

[@tomlxyz]

I've been long wondering how me ensure good journalism gets paid

[@divineantiwokegangster]

adam and eve where created with one in the service of the other, there was no equality in this creation

[@cowboyboots9901]

Ask Naomi Wu how unfair the world is. Vice lied and published false comments from Naomi. Those comments were critical of the CCP. They almost got her killed. When she called out the lies, Vice got YT to close down her channel. So the question is what else did Vice lie about and then silence voices called out their lies?

[@cesj1]

​@@divineantiwokegangsterdude really out here spewing random bullshit lmao.

[@tremorstudio9766]

@@divineantiwokegangsterthere were no Adan or Eve, much less a stupid God

[@RichieRouge206]

This was really interesting! It’s crazy seeing such big names spiral out of control. But the higher they fly the harder they fall! Great video fella

[@gitamic2287]

A very good eulogy for Vice, a once respected news. Thanks.

[@AmazingKevinWClark]

I love how a lot of these companies like to jump on modern activist trends because they think it sells, only to discover that they are part of the worst offenders. The hypocrisy annoys me.

[@skyton658]

Broke

[@AmazingKevinWClark]

@skyton658 if you are referring to the go woke get broke bs, I also hate that hive mind. No offense but not everything fails just because it was trying to push an agenda. That mentality was also annoying when people used it to explain why Solo failed. The movie didn't fail because of a boycott like some people wanted to claim. If there was such a boycott then it would have continued for The Rise of Skywalker but we didn't see that happen. The movie failed because most people didn't care about Han outside of Harrison Ford. The movie was also sandwiched between bigger blockbusters, one of which was the next Avengers movie so of course it was going to be overlooked by families on a budget etc. What it does prove is slapping the brand name of Star Wars on anything doesn't equal sales. That's a company fallacy. I find people on both sides of the political aisle unreliable and doing a great job in screwing up society.

[@stuartmorley6894]

​@@AmazingKevinWClarkunfortunately, Andor apart, nobody is learning lessons about Star Wars at Disney. They keep producing tired, generic cr@p and sticking mainline characters in to try gain views based on nostalgia rather than bothering with plots. The Mandalorian went downhill the moment they started whacking in misplaced cameos over unique story telling. If there's one more show that just has to have Jedi's and has a random Skywalker then you might as well just use AI to write it. It has nothing to do with being woke, it's just generic dross, wasting a huge galaxy that could be filled with lots of interesting plots away from the main characters.

[@Hlieyto]

@@AmazingKevinWClark Wasn't just woke, but what comes with woke in Star Wars. Bad writing, story, articles riddled with red flags about these very things. Then when it comes out, and people hit on the bad points, mainly stemming from the woke nonsense undermining the entire movie, because they want to "subvert expectations" break down tradition and the hero's journey, all this baggage gets in the way of good movies, cos Hollywood rates it above writing a good story, they get all their checklists in first. And then afterwards they use woke nonsense as a shield, attacking fans, calling them 'ists and 'phobes for being critical of the objectively bad story and writing, so they lose their hardcore fans pandering to a minority on twitter, but that's another issue with marketing using twitter. By the time Solo came out, people were already jaded with these tactics and sick of it, so not just minority that would boycott, but the silent majority, a lot of them didn't go too. When you start losing the silent majority, who leave without following either side, woke or anti-woke. Then you go broke. It takes longer for them to react, but when they get sick of your preaching and American politics, they start to leave, especially internationally. Cos that's what it is, American politics.

[@jackwilson5542]

@@AmazingKevinWClark Movies back in 2000s were the best. They actually made you think instead of this repetitive propaganda bs we are fed today. There was diversity in them, but it wasn't forced and instead focused on the plot.

[@notsocluelessTV]

Great video and all but can we just appreciate the editing of this. from start to finish it's so smooth. Big props to your editor 👏👏👏

[@tsarbomba1]

Didn't they also do a documentary on Liberia? That was truly terrifying.

[@martinroberts9176]

Another fantastic piece, thanks Ash ❤

[@generationfallout5189]

The irony is that the ads on youtube are usually worse than creators content. I get bombarded with ads about dodgy gambling companies and dodgy dating websites that are probably just scammers. KZbin just wanted to hoard all the wealth as always.

[@jessguzman]

Vice and Buzzfeed should join forces lol

[@CaptRR]

They can hire Don Lemon, I hear he’s available these days, and fits into their ideology.

[@somethingclever8916]

They really want the young demographic but the ones they had were in their 40s and have better things to do than read listicles and quizzes. Neither are attracting gen z audiences

[@sekhmet9808]

Great work as always!

[@FuzzeWuzzePS3]

You summed it up by who vice was owned by and explains why they slowly starting putting out softer content before their funding was cut.

[@noname-gp6hk]

Couldn't be happening to a better company.

[@Tadders]

Lol

[@DittaDemon]

You know balenciaga excists, right?

[@BeardGrizzly]

​@@DittaDemon and it would also be great to happen to them.

[@solomani5959]

Indeed.

[@jeffyboi6969]

@@DittaDemon did you know people die? thats also a bad random thing if we're just throwing shit out there.

[@George_M_]

Ah thats why i was seeing Vice branded game walkthroughs.

[@_Twink]

Actually?

[@kpetro1675]

Excellent job on this video!

[@r.b.wilkins5042]

This was a great video. Excellent work!

[@nicholasmatthew9687]

This makes so much sense, vice content has turned into something that’s an absolutely embarrassment to journalism. Now I understand why all their journalists these last few years just seem like they have just been hiring uneducated street kids.

[@chasebliss5045]

Uploaded right when dinner was ready. Thanks giver of content.

[@davidmedlin8562]

The "rare earth" channel keeps the spirit of the old vice alive, i think he might have worked for them back then

[@MrXHCx]

I remember a fiction issue that was absolutely stacked with high quality work. It was well over ten years ago and i can think of a number of writers i still read that I first encountered there.

[@jimbertsmith]

Vice ran head first into the same problem that companies that primarily cater to millennials and Gen-Z always do: broke customers. Their type of content was impossible to sustain within the traditional ad driven business model for media companies. They eventually would've had to move to a subscription based model to continue producing content, but the people who would have subscribed are also historically less wealthier than previous generations, burdened with debt, insane rent, and overall higher costs of basic living. Vice won't be the only company to go down because of this, trust me.

[@randomchannel-px6ho]

Unfortunately I think Japan has already demonstrated the worrying path we're on - no opportunities for the youth to build wealth - the economy slowly withers aways and dies. Capitalism played itself

[@lemonynora]

It’s a major issue of capitalism and greed. Gen Z and Millennials are significantly poorer than previous generations. And while boomers and gen x like to say it’s because we’re lazy they ignore more nuanced and dark reality of wages being stagnant, while rents, and cost of living raise dramatically. It’s near impossible for young people to get a home and raise a family like their parents and grandparents did. This is the primarily force contributing to population decline. Soon there won’t be enough people to pay for their parents/grandparents pensions and we will see an even more crisis to come. the world is really really poop right now :(

[@freakazoid4691]

@@lemonynoraMillenials are lazy though. :)

[@Cara.314]

Isnt capitalism great guys!? we have all this technology to offer a higher standard of living for less work but somehow nobody has money? it's almost as if the entire system is rigged against itself in the guise of modern tech liberating people from the need to make money to survive. it's almost as if we need a better economic system to support the growth of technological unemployment/poverty that wont funnel all the wealth into the hands of the very few. everyone alive today is lazy by comparison to previous generations...the luxury of being lazy and doing the things you enjoy is the whole f'n point of technology.

[@Brandon-tk2rw]

@randomchannel-px6ho lol no

[@toastedbabybuns1000]

Gavin saw the writing on the wall and got out while he could. Most indie media/ small businesses, when they outgrow their humble roots, start to morph into something more corporate as they gain in size. It's an almost inevitable metamorphosis. At that point, sacrificing the very thing that made you successful in the first place is a tell-tale sign of failure. I remember growing up watching edgy Vice content, then the sudden switch around 2013-2014 just made it a cringe copy of CNN. It's a shame Vice turned out the way it did, but at least Gavin didn't censor himself and got out when he did.

[@YoutubeCommentor1]

Eh, he lost any respect after the whole proud boy fiasco, dude has been trying to keep relevance trying to make an ass of himself.

[@toastedbabybuns1000]

@@KZbinCommentor1 I don't agree, but you're entitled to your opinion. I find Gavin hilarious and uncompromising, which was basically what old Vice was.

[@diskgrinder]

And he went full Nazi. Good gravy

[@lordofhyphens]

And I see Gavin as cashing in on the alt-right grievance grift like so many others in his orbit.

[@dalegarrett8840]

@@KZbinCommentor1 keeping relevance is pretty hard when you are cancelled. Proud boys, political commentator or comedian he has always been good for the cause despite sensationalised media perspectives on him regarding proud boys

[@bastinelli443]

I swear if they post another pegging article on Facebook I'll block them.

[@shanegrayson7068]

Damn, Kira, you videos have really gotten fantastic over the years. I do miss convos about Earth 2, but this stuff is just top tier quality.

[@Ch3f_X]

Really great video! I remember being wowed by vice years ago. Thinking how are they able to reach such desolate places and report on the things that other news outlets either ignored or skimmed over? But vice in the last few years has turned into this neo-liberal fan fair. Staying their hand from "real" news stories and reporting on smut. It this steady downturn that made me turn away from them in the first place. It used to be "on the front lines of Ukraine's civil unrest" in early 2014 or "visiting north Korea" but now is more "these are the top onlyfans models". The company has clearly fallen from grace, and I don't see a way back for them.

[@dhanyl2725]

Don't forget "How X film/game/book is "

[@AL-lh2ht]

have you even looked up their recent stuff?

[@dsfs17987]

I kind of got a slight pro russian vibe from them during the 2014-2016, if I remember correctly, there was as even a female vice "reporter" on JRE talking stupid things to promote the "oppressed" donbass people, my guess is they were fishing for money, and now they simply got used up by the money that needed them and threw them into the dumpster to make example of this sort of thing happens with politicians and other sellouts very often

[@GoodfellasX21]

It's not their fault all the new generation does it get naked on only fans

[@twntwn11]

Love your content Kira, keep it up! 👍

[@lhei_tayuun]

Oh man, I forgot about that "adults drinking milk" article. That might have been the last piece of Vice content I consumed.

[@htf5555]

watch those flames go. absolutely, beautiful

[@Miggy2j]

I loved Vice back in the day, so many brilliant documentaries. This was a great summary.

[@obsidiansands]

Now, if only Polygon and Kotaku goes out of business as well.

[@davidgood556]

I miss old journalists and writers Vice had back then. They were authentic and poured their heart into it. Now they have journalists worsted than typical bloggers. Shame.

[@antr7493]

it's a shame someone is buying them out, so they are not going anywhere

[@gamesmasteruploader4863]

amazingly put together and you're right: guys like yourself fill many of the holes VICE would have looked at years ago

[@neanda]

true, there's more independents around now that are doing great reports and essays, thankfully, while very good, they don't 'usually' go out in the field like the old Vice used to do. they should've stayed as a medium co rather than have illusions of grandeur that cannot suit their content style, smh

[@Thefizzler69]

Seeing vice deteriorate made me sad. They had such a great way to give you a window into places you couldn’t even imagine being let into

[@AJ-rk5uu]

The wokeness killed it....

[@gregmark1688]

Like King Midas, rich people destroy every single thing they touch.

[@jonathan2847]

They used to have journalists in the Syrian war, then they became Buzzfeed, then they failed.

[@bradley163]

The Ryan Duffy/Globetrotters/Dennis Rodman trip to DPRK was an absolutely amazing and wild ride to watch unfold.

[@Rave-agent]

Vice's story is one of the saddest there is. I hope Gavin Mcguiness made bank because he got out at precisely the right time.

[@PlusMinusAll]

I remember when Vice was a free (paper) magazine laying around in skateshops

[@anjasnyder7996]

The shift of content at vice is what ruined it for me. Especially with the topics they used to cover the contrast was almost cynical, you had the same exact journalists who travelled to Syria and talked to kids who dug out their parents remains because their family home got shelled now talking to some blue-haired non-binarys in the US who cried about how bad they got bullied in school. It was just a bit too much.

[@Anna_Stetik]

This is the best summary of what happened to Vice. The contrast between those 2 topics is enormous, to the point of sheer embarrassment that being "bullied" was high on their list, despite the history of content that revealed actual, real problems in the world.

[@ricks5756]

Vice did a wonderful documentary on Slab City, when no one else was willing to go anywhere near that long established large homeless encampment.

[@daddykeevo4502]

Always enjoyed your content, but the last few months..... amazing.

[@williamdavis9562]

I was one of those viewers they lost. Early on I was a huge fan of vice, they'd report on issues everyone was ignoring in far flung places. Then something changed, instead of reporting news they started to carefully peddle false narratives. Considering who their major investors were it makes sense now. I remember watching a show they did about the dog fights between Turkey and Greece in the Aegean and thinking they worked really hard to craft a specific narrative (It legit felt like something the BBC or CNN would do). Then I saw a few more that were worse than that and I never went back to their content ever again.

[@tuckerbugeater]

@@8.24. Never paid a dime and complains about free content

[@williamdavis9562]

@@tuckerbugeater Or gives reasons why they no longer consume.

[@williamdavis9562]

@@8.24. The story is above, try reading it.

[@MrShanester117]

So the moral of the story is that advertisers rule everything and nobody can figure out how to make any money without them

[@Robert_D_Mercer]

easy; sell a product. Not a service. Nobody know how to do both at the same time. Like I dunno, maybe if billy mays was alive today he would be streaming and selling his shit

[@lucy-pero]

patron?

[@alext8020]

@@Robert_D_Mercer Learn how to use semicolons correctly

[@anonony9081]

Only if you sell out. Subscription models work too, and there are plenty of sponsors who are willing to sponsor " controversial" content. Look at all the alt media that is huge right now, they got that way because they weren't willing to sell out like vice was. You don't need huge brands to sponsor you to be successful. Vice tried to grow too big too fast, they didn't have to hire thousands of people in dozens of countries. They could have stayed small and independent and not had to bow down to their investors

[@machinewashableOG]

Wechat owners famously laughed about how reliant American companies were on advertisers

[@joelhemmings5999]

Another GREAT video Kira

[@Itzallgoood]

Great take on Vice. I feel this exactly what happened to Vice.

[@whoistlovesburbrryshouldst186]

There was a time where I would tune in to watch vice docs anytime I had free time and I used to throughly enjoy them. It must’ve been about 3-4 years since I done it so and I was wondering why. They def sold their soul for cash and started flooding us with nonsense haha. Thank you for very informative vid mate

[@Keln02]

Vice media has produced some really incredible journalism. ANd some crap lets admit it hahaha

[@Smilieboy46]

I loved their coverage of South Sudan and the 2014 invasion of Ukraine.

[@rl1049]

Good analysis and the things you point to as reasons for the downfall make sense. I think a less tangible force is that different generations of internet users hang out on different sites. I can't see Vice's irreverent tone being popular with gen Z in a way that it was with millennials.

[@Carnyzzle]

Vice basically was dead the moment they stopped doing the documentaries that made them credible to begin with

[@jeanhunter3538]

Exactly, they used to and some of them continued to make really good documentaries with top of the line journalism. Then they jumped head first into the shallow pool of super divisive activism.

[@bahamutdragon1754]

@@grapesurgeon Ah yes, the recent video on sub Saharan Africa where they blame the lack of gay pride parades in the Congo on 18th century colonialism. Truly hard hitting stuff. Vice is shit, cope harder.

[@Carnyzzle]

@@grapesurgeon the damage was done, no one's going to go back to your site if they know you post, "wow you're a grown man and you eat cookies? Why are you such a baby?"

[@jeanhunter3538]

@@grapesurgeon Yeah that is what I meant by the "and some of them continued to make" part, sorry if it wasn't clear but I agree.

[@owningkoning]

@@grapesurgeon lol you seem to be a passionate fanboy cuz i litterly see you in every comment protecting vice. i mean i get your point but iff tons and i mean tons of people always say the same thing (as you mentioned) then maybe just maybe there is some truth to it. i think this video hits the nail on the head VICE just became to mainstream because they sold out... like even freaking disney owned a share in the company. it just became another soulless corporation with the occasional hit piece in the sea of uninteresting content.

[@MichaelCravith]

I didn't consume that much of Vice's content, but I remember them having some great documentaries. I stopped keeping up with it seven or eight years ago and sort of just assumed it was already gone, so hearing it went bankrupt this year was a surprise.

[@borandagio807]

Went from the greatest war journalism in modern times to how to make an ethically sourced vegan bong from tropical fruits.

[@Housewarmin]

I still remember the North Korea documentary with Shane.

[@Krranski]

This seems largely a structural problem in the economy. Having journalism tied to profit will always poison the artistic quality and freedom and allow propaganda to pollute the medium. We don't provide the best journalism to the people and it's impossible that we ever will, under our economic model.

[@thepjup4507]

vice's downfall is vice's fault. blaming the economy is pulling straws and lazy.

[@Krranski]

@@thepjup4507 Care to share your analysis?

[@Appxsci]

Good video! Got a subscriber with this one. I miss the glory days of vice. I used to read the magazine and Vice tv (vbs) was on the pulse of music at the time. Sad to see it get so shitty.

[@uriustosh]

American exceptionalism through the urban liberal, hipster yuppie lens. That's what VICE became, which allowed it to thrive and attract so much investment and interest. The initial magazine was pure reactionary misogyny and 90s edgelord stuff, nothing of value. It is quite remarkable how they grew to serve the US media narratives so strongly for so many years. Almost a decade of mainstream buzz and production, that's something.

[@neverhave]

I gotta shout out Remap Radio, the rebrand for Vice's gaming arm, that has successfully spun off in response to the bankruptcy. While they were at Vice they started up a subscription model of their own which enabled them to keep running as the company went through more and more layoffs. Now they're totally listener funded, hopefully sustainably for plenty of time to come!

[@JK-gm6kk]

Some of the non preachy non political videos were pretty good

[@borkguy]

So like… 1% of them?

[@whydoyoucare5]

Yeah back when they sent reporters to remote locations or places under conflict they were doing real journalism by exposing these places/conflicts to the western world, but then they fell for the buzzfeed-esq grift around 2016-2017 and haven't recovered since. That and viceland failing spelled disaster, it was the only place where their more non-political entertainment was located.

[@Scylithen]

Unfortunately all it takes is for a company to start sniffing it's own farts and it's all over.

[@JumpinJoe]

they were always political but damn did they get whiny after they got involved with Disney and HBO

[@lk5388]

​@@borkguy pretty much only dark side of the ring