Vice Media Inc., known for its edgy, youth-oriented online and TV programming, is more than doubling the size of its news operations, the latest sign that digital-media outlets see growth potential in news.Over the past two months, Vice has quietly hired more than 60 additional journalists, increasing the size of its formal news team to more than 100, to cover everything from Middle East war zones to health-care reform through an expansion of its digital video offering, Chief Executive Shane Smith said in an interview.The company plans to spend around $50 million over the next three years to build up its news operation, according to a person close to the closely held company. The expansion will include a dedicated "Vice News" channel on YouTube, as well as the introduction of a recurring online video series, live coverage of breaking news events and in-depth documentaries—a niche where Vice has already had some success.Mr. Smith said Vice is completing partnerships with advertisers including a "big tech company" to support the news expansion. He declined to identify potential sponsors. The expansion is expected to kick off in the first quarter of 2014.Vice launched two decades ago as an alternative magazine in Montreal, but has become a multimedia empire for youth audiences spanning traditional TV, the Web and print. Its namesake website covers topics ranging from hipster fashion "Dos & Don'ts" to an account of performing stand-up comedy on LSD.
And from the New York Times:Earlier this year, Vice raised $70 million by selling a 5% equity stake to the company now known as 21st Century Fox....MORE
3 Journalists At The Times Are Departing
Three journalists at The New York Times on Tuesday announced plans to leave the newspaper.Hugo Lindgren, editor of The New York Times Magazine, told his staff in a brief meeting Tuesday afternoon that he would leave The Times at year’s end. Mr. Lindgren was hired by The Times in September 2010 after working as executive editor of Bloomberg Businessweek. No successor has been named, a spokeswoman for The Times said. Responding to a request for comment, Mr. Lindgren wrote in an email: “I loved editing The Times Magazine over the course of 150-plus issues. Looking forward to the next challenge.”Also on Tuesday, CNN announced that it had hired Brian Stelter, a media reporter at The Times, to host its weekly news show “Reliable Sources.” The network said that Mr. Stelter, 28, would also be a senior media correspondent, reporting on “trends, personalities and companies across the media spectrum.”“I’m equally excited about reporting throughout the week on CNN’s many digital platforms and television networks,” Mr. Stelter, who joined The Times in 2007, said in a statement. “CNN is reimagining media coverage at what is the best time ever to be covering media, and I’m very happy to be a part of it.”In addition, Matt Bai, a political correspondent for The New York Times Magazine, said he was joining Yahoo News as its national political columnist. Mr. Bai, 45, said in an email that he planned to start at Yahoo in December, probably writing a weekly column “with some additional columns added on big news days.”...MORE
