23 staff positions cut in aftermath of Vice Canada and Rogers Media deal ending
Just a few days after Rogers Media announced it was cutting ties with Vice Canada, 23 staff have been laid off.
“Whether you are one of the people directly affected by layoff or not, it is hard to witness co-workers and friends lose work – and it is hard to experience an involuntary layoff first-hand,” said Maggie McCaw, president of the Vice Canada branch of CMG, and Kamala Rao, president of Canadian Media Guild, in a press release.
A few Vice Canada staff announced they had been laid off via Twitter.
https://twitter.com/sarahsmacdonald/status/956568610352353282
https://twitter.com/lauralloyd/status/956654481378291713
At least one staff member also took a buyout, which is available to Vice Canada staff as an option in the event of layoffs.
hello I have a *life update* pic.twitter.com/nguwaRKzig
— Brigitte Noël (@Brige_Noel) January 25, 2018
In 2014, The Canadian Press reported that Rogers Media and Vice Canada had signed a $100 million deal to start a speciality TV channel and open a new production studio. That channel, Viceland, was announced in 2015 and premiered in 2016. However, A Bloomberg report in March 2016 found that people were viewing Viceland documentaries more online than on the TV channel itself.
Ryan Archibald, the president of Vice Canada, said in a statement reported by The Canadian Press that Vice will be announcing some “exciting new partnerships” soon
H.G. Watson was J-Source's managing editor from 2015 to 2018. She is a journalist based in Toronto. You can learn more about her at hgwatson.com.