A virtual town hall meeting to discuss layoffs at Vice Media ended abruptly last week after executives complained about a flood of “thumbs down” emojis filling the screen.
Chief content officer Corey Huyck was updating the company Wednesday on recently announced layoffs when a flood of angry emoji reactions started pouring in.
“The macro landscape is in a very, very, very difficult time. As I’m sure you all know, we’ve talked about that many times,” she began to explain.
“The sub-publishing business will now be run as a smaller, break-even business. It’s no longer unprofitable, but it’s a much smaller product.”
But deputy media chief executive Bruce Dixon interrupted Huyck’s comments and called off the meeting altogether.
“It’s impossible to ignore the emojis from our side,” he said.
“And we’re trying to organize this in a way that actually gives the information to the people who want to receive it in the sense that it’s meant to be received. Thank you for taking the time to explain that and for being here. We look forward to working with our City Hall on this. We appreciate all the questions we receive and will do our best to answer them in a forum that makes sense for this company.”
Video of the meeting was posted to TikTok by user bobbymang666 and shared online by current and former deputy staffers. daily beast report.
“Corey Huyck’s salary last year was approximately $726,068. What a joke,” one user commented.
“Can’t they handle emojis?” another asked.
A user described Vice’s collapse as “wild” and suggested that “Vice should do an article about Vice’s collapse.”
In a statement to CNN, a Vice Media spokesperson said: “It is unfortunate that the remaining employees of the organization who wanted to contribute so much to the organization’s success were sabotaged by a few malicious actors.” said.
“We understand that emotions are running high following such significant changes in the company, and we will continue to communicate. Our strategic vision for the future is the right one for Vice.”
Last month, Vice Media announced plans to lay off hundreds of employees and stop publishing content on its flagship website Vice.com, a move that echoed the once-highly rated radical “punk rock” news. It is as if the years-long decline of the major companies has come to an end. An astonishing $5.7 billion ($8.8 billion).
The company filed for bankruptcy last May and was later sold to a consortium led by Fortress Investment Group for $350 million.
The New York Times reported that about 900 staff remain at the company.
In his memo announcing the latest layoffs, Dixon did not cite specific numbers, other than to say several hundred people would be affected.
He said it is no longer cost-effective for Vice to distribute digital content in the traditional way and will focus more on social channels while moving to a studio model.
Dixon said: “I know it is difficult and daunting to say goodbye to a valued colleague, but this is the best path forward for Weiss as we aim for long-term creative and financial success.” said.
Other digital news sites such as BuzzFeed News, Jezebel and Messenger have also shut down over the past year, and traditional media outlets have also been forced to cut jobs in the face of economic headwinds.
