Who owns VICE?

VICE started out as a free magazine in Montreal in 1994, founded by Suroosh Alvi and Shane Smith. Since then it has developed a reputation as an alternative / punk publication which delves into more unusual stories across a variety of different from international news, local news, music, politics, fashion and current affairs. They take an anti-mainstream approach in their journalism.

VICE launched its website in 1996 under the address Viceland.com. In 2007 it launched a website dedicated more specifically to video, called VBS.tv. In 2011 The two sites were combined into a all encompassing website: vice.com.

In mid August 2013, Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox invested $70 million into VICE media for a 5% stake in the company. In an interview, Shane Smith stated: “We have set ourselves up to build a global platform but we have maintained control.” Minority shareholders hold 25% of the voting power in the company, whilst the rest remains with the founders.

On August 29 2014, A&E entertainment bought a 10% stake in VICE media for $250 million. A&E networks is a joint venture between Hearts Corporation and The Disney/ABC television group. This was to enable VICE to break into traditional TV as they had long wanted to do.

Later that year in October, VICE announced a CDN$100 million joint venture with Rogers Communications to launch new VICE production facilities in Toronto for locally produced content, along with a VICE branded Canadian TV show.

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Below is a diagram showing the ownership structures of the companies invested in VICE. Whilst News Corp don’t own BSKYB completely, they do have a 39.1% stake in the company

Introduction

I have set in this blog in order to document my findings in my Journalism Futures module.

Journalism Futures looks at the big debates around technological developments and the effects they have on journalism. I will look to understand the complex relations between the changing technological and social contexts and how they effect our journalistic output. Together with this I will study the historical context of the practice and see how journalism has developed throughout history.

I will also be comparing the output of two news media sites, tracking how each one handles certain stories. Each website is different and offers readers different ways to engage in news stories. Each site have different models of practice and I believe this will make for interesting comparison.

I have chosen to compare the VICE news network with Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera has over 65 bureaus across the globe with the majority of them in the global South. They broadcast a news and current affairs program 24/7 from their Doha headquarters as well as centres in London and Washington, DC. They are the 13th most viewed news channel on Youtube, with approximately 589 million views per month. VICE news is a rapidly growing, new competitor. They are a part of VICE Media, a company with several digital channels covering an array of subjects. The news channel was created 2 years ago in 2013. VICE is the 33rd most viewed news channel on Youtube with approximately 300 million views per month.