A virtual town hall meeting to debate lay-offs at Vice Media was abruptly cut short last week after executives complained a few flood of “thumbs-down” emojis overtaking the screen.
Chief content officer Cory Haik was giving an update to the corporate about recently announced job cuts on Wednesday when indignant emoji reactions began to pour in.
“It’s a really, very, very difficult time within the macro landscape, I believe you all know that, I’ve talked about that rather a lot,” she began to clarify.
“The Vice publishing business is now going to operate as a smaller, break-even business. It isn’t any longer unprofitable, however it is a much smaller offering.”
But Vice Media chief executive Bruce Dixon interrupted Haik’s comments to ditch the meeting altogether.
“It’s unattainable to disregard the emojis from our side,” he said.
Chief content officer Cory Haik was giving an update to the corporate about recently announced job cuts on Wednesday when indignant emoji reactions began to pour in. tiktok.com/@bobbymang666
“And I believe we’re going to arrange this in a way where we will actually give the knowledge to individuals who need to receive it in the way in which it’s meant. Thanks in your time and your presence when it comes to trying to clarify that. I believe let’s progress with our own town halls on this. Thanks for all of the questions now we have received, we’ll do our greatest to reply those in a forum that is sensible for this company.”
Video of the meeting was posted to TikTok by user bobbymang666 and shared online by current and former Vice staffers, The Every day Beast reported.
“Cory Haik’s salary was roughly $726,068 last yr. What a joke,” one user commented.
“They will’t handle emojis?” one other asked.
Users described the collapse of Vice as “wild,” suggesting “Vice should do a bit on the autumn of Vice”.
“It’s unlucky that employees remaining with the organization who greatly need to contribute to its success were sabotaged by a number of bad actors,” a Vice Media spokesperson said in an announcement to CNN.
“We understand that emotions are running high after such a major change to the corporate and can proceed to speak. Our strategic vision moving forward is the suitable one for Vice.”
Vice Media announced last month that it planned to sack several hundred employees and not publish material on its flagship Vice.com website, all but marking the tip of a years-long decline for the edgy “punk rock” news giant once valued at an incredible $US5.7 billion.
Vice Media chief executive Bruce Dixon interrupted Haik’s comments to ditch the meeting altogether. ALLISON DINNER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The corporate filed for bankruptcy last May before being sold for $350 million to a consortium led by Fortress Investment Group.
The Latest York Times reported the corporate was left with around 900 people on staff.
In his memo announcing the most recent job cuts, Mr Dixon didn’t give a particular number apart from saying tons of of individuals could be affected.
He said it was not cost-effective for Vice to distribute its digital content the way in which it had been and it will put more emphasis on its social channels, while shifting to a studio model.
“I do know that saying goodbye to our valued colleagues is difficult and feels overwhelming, but that is the most effective path forward for Vice as we position the corporate for long-term creative and financial success,” Mr Dixon said.
Other digital news sites including BuzzFeed News, Jezebel and Messenger have shut down over the past yr, while traditional media outlets have also been forced to chop staff within the face of economic headwinds.
