VICE Media apologises for toxic “boy’s club” workplace
Broadcaster which partners with SBS at the centre of harassment investigation.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
Canadian / US broadcaster VICE Media has apologised for fostering a “boy’s club” culture that failed to protect women staff from harassment.
More than two dozen women told the New York Times they had “experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct,” including unwanted kisses, lewd remarks, propositions and groping.
“There is a toxic environment,” said Sandra Miller, a former Vice executive, “where men can say the most disgusting things and… where women are treated far inferior than men.”
The company, which supplies the majority of programming for SBS VICELAND, said in a statement that the company had taken action over “multiple instances of unacceptable behavior”.
“Ten years ago, we set out on a new journey, moving beyond covering just streetwear, drugs and sex, to news and social justice issues. Over the last decade, we have severed ties with colleagues who espoused misogynistic and extremist ideologies, and evolved Vice from a publication with a tiny staff to a media company employing thousands of the most talented creative minds all over the world,” said co-founders Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi
“Throughout our history, we’ve undergone seismic change and reinvention, but we did not keep pace with that growth by putting into place the internal policies and structures that would prevent disparate treatment toward some of our employees.
“So what are we going to do now? We’re going to make Vice a truly modern work culture that lives up to the egalitarian values that we lost. We are going to listen to our staff, and we are going to train a new generation of managers and leaders.”
SBS & VICE Australia have been approached for comment.
7 Responses
Vice living up to its name. Certainly goes against the hip, trendy, politically correct image it tries to portray. Since the ABC has rebranded ABC2 as ABC Comedy, surely SBS can think outside the box as well and change SBS2 into SBS Fit. A fitness and health channel with such things as bodybuilding, calisthenics, crossfit, Strongman and healthy eating. Every gym in the country would have it on their screens. Certainly a lot more positive and healthy than clinging onto a toxic brand like Vice which never really took off in this country and goes against all the ideals SBS stands for.
SBS should run a mile from Vice if they want keep any sort of credibility in the future. We can do without another hypocritical “news organisation” such as Vice and shows like Weedequete. Stick to shows like Vikings, Chance, the Premier League and quality documentaries SBS.
If one was to count up the North American content on VICE it would probably sit at about 90%, which is not why SBS was set up.
Lost that battle though – SBS pretty much walked away from that part of its charter over 10 years ago.
In some cases (e.g. the Charlottesville documentary) Vice _has_ shown hints of the SBS of old. But that was more a case of “right time, right place, got lucky”…
VICE’s problems run far deeper than this latest public dip into the dark underworld of VICE. The way they contractually screw over small independent content providers is breathtaking.
Quel surprise. SBS needs to dump this toxic brand asap.
Another dark stain on SBS.