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VICE, the world’s leading youth media brand and digital content studio, have announced the launch of VICE News: a new video-driven online channel, which will feature hundreds of hours of provocative, immersive news programming from around the world for a youth audience.
The new channel, which begins its rollout today, will feature new VICE hosts, in-depth international reporting, recurring franchises, and feature-length documentaries.
VICE News launches off the back of the youth brand’s increased outpouring of award-winning news content through VICE.com, the VICE series on HBO, and YouTube.
The channel will fill a void left by mainstream media and news aggregation websites struggling to engage youth audiences and offer high-quality compelling digital programming.
With 35 foreign bureaus, a vast network of post-production facilities and over 4,000 contributors, VICE has spent the last three years traversing the globe to bring its audience the underreported stories they care about most.
VICE has interviewed homeless children living in Bogotá’s sewers, embedded with Nigerian oil pirates, reported from within North Korea and met Kim Jong-un, and produced extensive coverage of Afghanistan’s child suicide bombers.
The content has been devoured by VICE’s audience and both watched and shared by hundreds of millions around the world.
Currently, VICE News is on the ground in Crimea and Caracas. VICE News documentaries at launch include “Killing Time in Kandahar,” an investigation into the first Spring fighting season between the Taliban and the Afghan National Army (ANA) without the presence of U.S. troops.
VICE News will offer in-depth video and editorial content that will include long-form and short-form documentaries, Vine and Instagram, and live-streaming from some of the biggest events of our time.
The channel also features new hosts, including the conflict and crisis specialist Ben Anderson; the smart phone and drone-equipped live-stream reporter Tim Pool; Academy Award-winning filmmaker Fazeelat Aslam; and the 2013 recipient of the Rory Peck Award for News, Aris Roussinos.
Though the channel won’t chase the traditional news cycle, VICE News will report from the centre of the breaking stories that matter most to our audience—from civil uprisings to natural disasters—increasingly employing the latest in cutting-edge technology, including live-streaming, Google Glass and drones.
Building on the success of the VICE channel, YouTube will be the flagship of VICE News’ video distribution plan. Additionally, VICE News will be deeply integrated across the Google ecosystem, including Google+, Maps, Chrome, YouTube’s Capture App, and a VICE News native Android application.
All VICE News content will live on vicenews.com, a platform created for optimal video and content viewing, as well as social media sharing. A dedicated VICE News YouTube channel, as well as content partnerships with online publishers and distribution of VICE News content to linear TV channels, will ensure the channel’s content reaches the widest possible audience.
VICE is a global youth media company and the industry leader in producing and distributing the best online video content in the world.
Launched in 1994 as a punk magazine, VICE now operates in 35 countries and has expanded into a multimedia network, including the world’s premier source for original online video, VICE.COM; an international network of digital channels; a television & feature film production studio; a magazine; a record label; and a book-publishing division.
VICE’s digital channels include VICE News, a dedicated news channel; Noisey, a music discovery channel; The Creators Project, dedicated to the arts and creativity; Motherboard, covering cultural happenings in technology; THUMP, focusing on global dance and electronic music; and Fightland, a channel dedicated to the culture of MMA.
VICE acquired British fashion publication i-D in 2012 and re-launched i-D’s digital presence at i-D.co, a video-driven fashion site In 2013, VICE launched a news-magazine series on HBO titled ‘VICE.’ The Emmy nominated series is commissioned for a second season, scheduled for 2014.