Vice hit with layoffs amid staffing shakeup

Vice Media, long a darling of the digital media world, on Tuesday joined the list of tech news sites cutting its staff.

About 15 people were laid off in its New York and Los Angeles offices.

And in London, Vice foreign correspondent Harriet Salem tweeted, “All of UK @vicenews editorial team, plus the only two foreign correspondents laid off just now (including me).”

A company spokesman said that Josh Tyrangiel, who joined last year from Bloomberg Media to lead Vice’s daily news show, is now going to be the head of all of Vice News operations.

Prior to the layoffs Tuesday, the spokesman said Vice had added about 20 new staff members this year, including Madeleine Haeringer as executive producer of the HBO nightly news show and Ryan McCarthy as editor-in-chief of Vice News.

“The plan in place will expand Vice’s news offerings across digital and TV, continue the recent wave of newsroom hires, add additional foreign bureaus, and marshal the company’s existing news divisions into one cohesive powerhouse,” the spokesman said.

Founder and CEO Shane Smith, while lying prone on the stage at the Newfronts presentation to advertisers two weeks ago, mentioned nothing about possible cutbacks.