This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2013)

Vice

January 2009, the Universal Sadness Issue
Editor	Rocco Castoro (editor-in-chief) Andy Capper (global editor)
Categories	Lifestyle
Frequency	Monthly
Circulation	900,000 (worldwide) 80,000 (UK)[1]
Founder	Suroosh Alvi, Shane Smith, Gavin McInnes
First issue	1994 (1994)
Country	United States
Based in	New York City, New York, The U.S.A.
Language	English
Website	www.vice.com
ISSN	1077-6788

Vice is a North American magazine that is focused on international arts, culture, and news topics. The publication is available free of charge in twenty-eight countries and is financed by advertising. Jesse Pearson was Vice's editor-in-chief for eight years, until his resignation in December 2010. As of March 2013, the magazine's editor-in-chief is Rocco Castoro^[2] and its global editor is documentary filmmaker Andy Capper.^[3] In April 2013, the Vice YouTube channel displayed over 2,000,000 subscribers.^[4]

History [edit]

Founded by Suroosh Alvi, Shane Smith, and Gavin McInnes, the magazine was launched in 1994 as the Voice of Montreal with government funding, and the intention of the founders was to provide work and a community service.^[5] When the editors later sought to dissolve their commitments with the original publisher Alix Laurent, they bought him out and changed the name to Vice in 1996.

Apparently unhappy in Canada, and in search of more streetwear advertising income, the magazine's personnel relocated to New York City, U.S. in 1999. Smith has stated: "I grew up being a socialist and I have problems with it because I grew up in Canada [and] I’ve spent a lot of time in Scandinavia, where I believe countries legislate out creativity. They cut off the tall trees. Everyone’s a C-minus. I came to America from Canada because Canada is stultifyingly boring and incredibly hypocritical. Thanks, Canada."^[6] In 2008, the magazine was read by over 900,000 people across twenty-two countries.^[7]

Content [edit]

Vice's content has shifted from dealing mostly with independent arts and pop cultural matters to covering more serious news topics.^{[citation needed]} The magazine's editors have championed the "Immersionist" school of journalism, regarded as something of a DIY antithesis to the methods practiced by mainstream news outlets, and has published an entire issue of articles that were written in accordance with the ethos. Entire issues of the magazine have also been dedicated to the concerns of Iraqi people,^[8] Native Americans,^[9] Russian people,^[10] people with mental disorders,^[11] and people with mental disabilities.^[12] Vice also publishes an annual guide for students in the UK.^[13]

In 2007, a Vice announcement was published on the Internet: "After umpteen years of putting out what amounted to a reference book every month, we started to get bored with it. Besides, too many other magazines have ripped it and started doing their own lame take on themes. So we're going to do some issues, starting now, that have whatever we feel like putting in them."^[14]

Controversy [edit]

Vice was the subject of accusations regarding the use of irony to conceal reactionary politics and the promotion of conservative, racist, and sexist attitudes.^{[15][dead link][16][17][18]}

In August 2003, McInnes wrote a piece in The American Conservative that is entitled "Hip to Be Square: It’s getting cooler to be conservative".^[19] Additionally, McInnes' views on immigration have generated controversy. In a September 2003 interview with The New York Times, McInnes stated, "I love being white and I think it's something to be very proud of." He also remarked, "I don't want our culture diluted. We need to close the borders now and let everyone assimilate to a Western, white, English-speaking way of life." McInnes later explained that the interview was a prank on the young fashion journalist who wrote the piece.^{[20][dead link]} Responding to the controversy, McInnes later stated that "baby boomer media like The New York Times is a laughing stock, and we should do whatever we can to ridicule it".^[20]

Politics [edit]

In a March 2008 interview with The Guardian, Smith was asked about the magazine's political allegiances and he stated, "We're not trying to say anything politically in a paradigmatic left/right way ... We don't do that because we don't believe in either side. Are my politics Democrat or Republican? I think both are horrific. And it doesn't matter anyway. Money runs America; money runs everywhere."^[5]

Fiction [edit]

Vice has published five fictional issues. Notable inclusions include interviews with Dennis Cooper and Harold Bloom, and stories by Ann Beattie, Stephen Dixon, Tao Lin, and Carlton Mellick III.^{[citation needed]}

Comics issue [edit]

In 2006,^[21] Vice published a special comics issue that is guest-edited by Johnny Ryan. True to the underground spirit of both the magazine and Ryan, the collection of one-page comics were mostly crude, scatological, sexually perverse, and/or violent in nature. The more than thirty contributors included cover illustrator Al Jaffee, Peter Bagge, Steven Weissman, Gary Panter, Jordan Crane, Robert Crumb, Dave Cooper, Tony Millionaire, Mary Fleener, Martin Kellerman, Sam Henderson, Rick Altergott, Sophie Crumb, and Sammy Harkham.^{[citation needed]}

Publishing [edit]

The magazine has published the collections The DOs and DON'Ts Book and The Vice Guide to Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll. In 2008, the photograph compilation The Vice Photo Book was released and featured published works from previous editions of the magazine.^{[22][dead link]}

Record label [edit]

Vice Recordings has released albums and singles by the following artists through various major label distributors:

• 120 Days
• Acrassicauda
• Action Bronson
• Almighty Defenders
• The Black Lips
• Bloc Party
• Boredoms
• Charlotte Gainsbourg
• Chromeo
• Death From Above 1979
• Fucked Up
• Growing
• Justice
• King Khan and the Shrines
• Off!
• Panthers
• Rich Boy
• Snoop Lion
• The Raveonettes
• The Stills
• The Streets
• Team Spirit
• VietNam
• Vybz Kartel

Television and film [edit]

Vice's videos and documentaries, such as the "Vice Guide to Travel", are accessible on the Internet-based Vice channel—the channel seeks to circumvent network intervention over content issues, and facilitate a global, free-of-charge distribution plan that is akin to that of the magazine.^[23] Vice Films released the feature length documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad in 2008, as well its first theatrical release White Lightnin in 2009, and a documentary on professional bull riders, entitled The Ride, in 2010.^[24] The MTV series The Vice Guide to Everything premiered in December 2010 and features Vice films, as well as new material.^{[citation needed]}

Reincarnated, a documentary film on Snoop Dogg's transformation into reggae artist and Rastafarian Snoop Lion, was released in 2013,^[25] while, in April 2013, the Vice YouTube channel reached over 2,000,000 subscribers. Vice, a news series featuring founder Smith, debuted on HBO on April 5, 2013.^[26] Lil Bub & Friendz directed by Andy Capper and Juliette Eisner, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2013 and won the Tribeca Online Festival Best Feature Film.^[27][28][29]

Acquisitions [edit]

Vice acquired the British fashion magazine i-D in 2012.^[30] Vice also runs a pub and music venue in east London, UK, The Old Blue Last in Shoreditch, in which a live music program entitled "Live at the Old Blue Last" is filmed.^[31]

Notable Contributors [edit]

Notable contributors have included Ryan McGinley, Richard Kern, Adam Baron, and Terry Richardson.^{[citation needed]}

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Official site