Vice moves to unify news operations, but cuts some jobs in the process
Vice News is making a news omelette, and that means breaking some eggs.
Vice plans to lay off "around 15" editorial employees as part of a broader reorganization of its various news departments. As part of that effort, the company announced on Tuesday that Josh Tyrangiel will be promoted to oversee Vice's global news operation, a source told Mashable.
The reorganization will mean that Tyrangiel, who joined Vice in October 2015 from Bloomberg to head up a daily news show for HBO, takes the reins of the company's growing news effort.
You May Also Like
The company has also been on something of a hiring spree for the upcoming HBO show, including Ravi Somaiya from the New York Times and Madeleine Haeringer from MSNBC. Ryan McCarthy was also recently brought in from the Times to become Vice News editor-in-chief.
A Vice spokesperson passed along the following message when asked for comment:
"The plan in place will expand VICE's news offerings across digital and TV, continue the recent of wave of newsroom hires, add additional foreign bureaus, and marshal the company's existing news divisions into one cohesive powerhouse."
The layoffs first came to public attention when a Vice employee in the United Kingdom tweeted the she had been let go.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
A person at Vice familiar with the situation said that the cuts were part of a broader expansion plan that includes the upcoming announcement of bureaus in Hong Kong and San Francisco.
The timing of the move is awkward for Vice as its CEO Shane Smith recently gave an interview to Digiday in which he said: "I don’t think it’s any secret that you’re going to see a bloodbath in the next 12 months of digital, mobile and terrestrial."
Vice's Canada operation apparently emerged unscathed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Jason Abbruzzese is a Business Reporter at Mashable. He covers the media and telecom industries with a particular focus on how the Internet is changing these markets and impacting consumers. Prior to working at Mashable, Jason served as Markets Reporter and Web Producer at the Financial Times. Jason holds a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University and an M.A. in International Affairs from Australian National University.
