Despite the fact that it’s a website, magazine, YouTube channel and a television show, very few Americans have heard of Vice.
Created in 1994 as a free magazine called “Voice of Montreal,” Vice has slowly turned into the quintessential alternative news outlet.
Led by grizzly-faced, no-holds-barred Chief Executive Officer Shane Smith, Vice has shook up traditional media outlets by injecting a breath of fresh air into an often-stale industry.
Rather than focus solely on Casey Anthony-like court proceedings, Vice’s aim is to inform and enlighten its predominantly young audience.
Stories that require in-depth reporting or full-on immersion within a particular culture or community are among Vice’s favorites. A little bit of danger is also to be desired.
Stories on Vice’s website range from on-the-ground war reporting in Syria to following a man in Siberia who claims to be a relative of Jesus.
Though Vice’s reporters don’t often look or sound like the Walter Cronkites or Katie Courics of yesterday, Vice’s fresh and unique perspective is surprisingly unmatched.
Last week, Vice on HBO premiered to the adoration of many.
Only 30 minutes in length, Vice on HBO featured two stories: one on the rising number of political assassinations in the Philippines and another on how the Taliban is using more and more children as suicide bombers in Afghanistan.
For reasons that are apparent to many, stories on children blowing themselves up are not desired on evening news programs.
Vice’s Taliban story featured graphic, grisly images of suicide-bomber casualties that would make it instantly unpopular for American families.
For better or for worse, journalism has suffered a bit of a setback lately as audiences have become increasingly insulated from what is really going on in the world.
Stories about Syria’s civil war or Bradley Manning’s court trial often fail to make it to the top of the evening news cycle.Instead, audiences are left with stories that are often vague, prejudiced and just plain biased.
In order to satisfy advertisers and FCC guidelines, traditional news outlets like NBC and ABC have seemingly dumbed down the news they present.
Stories like those of Casey Anthony or Christopher Dorner receive widespread appeal and interest while more pertinent ones like those that Vice covers do not.
Its website may not attract the readership that sites like the Huffington Post and Politico do, but Vice’s importance and significance is not to be underestimated.
The need to freshen up the often-stale field of journalism is past due.
Vice has a long road to hoe, though it will likely survive and eventually thrive in today’s global news market.
Shane Newell is a sophomore journalism major and an assistant city editor for the Daily 49er.