Vice Becomes Largest Digital Media Company to Go Union

There has been a fair amount of Friday afternoon scoopage this summer. Today, it is the turn of Lukas I. Alpert to light up the iPhone and tablet screens of the already packed-up-for-the-weekend media watching crowd. Per the Wall Street Journal media reporter, editorial employees at Vice Media have chosen to follow in the footsteps of those at Gawker Media, Salon and Guardian U.S.: The writers will be joining the Writers Guild of America, East, and Vice’s management has been informed, the people said. Vice’s attorney has already responded to the union saying the company is prepared to recognize it, one of the people said. The number of employees who have voted to unionize was not immediately clear. Read the rest of Alpert's item here. Update (8:30 p.m.): Vice has provided the following statements: Shane Smith, founder & CEO: "I'm so proud of all my perfect diamonds here at Vice. Every single day your ideas and work continue to blow me away. I am proud to support all of you - and as an old grey-haired man all I want is for my beautiful Vice family to be happy - those writers who voted to unionize and those who did not. I love you all, and together we will conquer the world." Alyssa Mastromonaco, chief operating officer: "This company began as a free punk magazine funded by Canadian public assistance checks; today Vice employs hundreds of the best storytellers, journalists, writers, photographers, in more than 30 countries around the world. So it goes without saying that we're enormously proud of what we've built here. Every step of that dizzying growth has been a reinvention of what Vice does and how it’s done. That includes the never-ending process of building the most progressive workplace we can, which today includes giving employees 100's of millions of dollars in company equity, competitive salaries, paid leave and now tuition reimbursement. Through these steps and others, Vice will continue doing whatever it takes to attract and retain the worlds best creative minds." Young people in digital newsrooms are figuring it out, and the trend continues--now @VICE goes union. http://t.co/6wlS2IJk2N #1U — Justin Jacoby Smith (@hoosteen) August 7, 2015 @joshsternberg @mccanner If Vice voluntarily recognizes a union, I think that puts enormous pressure on Buzzfeed and Vox. — Peter Sterne (@petersterne) August 7, 2015 so glad to see @bcmerchant & the rest of the gang were able to get a union http://t.co/n4qVudCR0w — Mike Elk (@MikeElk) August 7, 2015

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Vice Becomes Largest Digital Media Company to Go Union

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Richard Horgan

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