Vice Media lays off over 100 employees, shuts World News brand

SAN FRANCISCO: Vice Media is laying off more than 100 employees as part of restructuring its global organisations, along with shutting down its Vice News Tonight broadcast, reports said.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the embattled media company has been looking to sell itself for several months.

"We are transforming VICE News to better withstand market realities and more closely align with how and where we see our audiences engaging with our content most," co-CEOs Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala said in a note to staff seen by WSJ.

Vice World News produces digital and TV news content for international audiences.

Vice said Vice News would be its singular news brand worldwide, effectively putting an end to the Vice World News brand. Vice Media earlier this year secured $30 million in debt financing from Fortress Investment Group.

At its peak, Vice was valued at nearly $6 billion. Last month, reports said that Group Black had submitted a bid to buy Vice for about $400 million. Last week, popular news outlet Insider announced to lay off 10 per cent of its workforce that includes staff writers.

The layoffs reflect a media market still adjusting to a struggling economy. The Pulitzer Prize-winning news arm of BuzzFeed.com is also being shut down, CEO Jonah Peretti announced. The media outlet said that it is reducing the workforce by approximately 15 per cent across business, content, tech and admin teams, and beginning the process of closing BuzzFeed News.

Several media outlets, like ABC News, NPR, Vox Media, CNN and others have laid off staff members in recent months.