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Buzzfeed and VICE were the digital unicorns of the 2010s. In this fast-emerging era of smartphones and video, these two companies had seemingly figured the secret sauce to go viral in this new online world. Backed by flourishing viewership, Buzzfeed and VICE fundraised their way to multi-billion dollar valuations, using the investment to elevate production value, expand genres, and build newsrooms of their own.

As these startups expanded into journalism, the once-clear line that divided old media and digital media vanished. They collected Emmys and Pulitzers for their work. The viewership, quality, and virality was visible to all - and it wasn’t hard for the public and venture capitalists to be convinced that Buzzfeed and VICE had become for millennials what the NYT, CNN, and Fox were for boomers. There were also smaller startups like Vox, Thrillist, Mashable, and Insider who surged off the same tailwinds. Digital media was a new type of business with its own fundamentals where all the consumption, distribution, and creation was all entirely online.

Fast forward 10 years and Buzzfeed is a penny stock. They get a fraction of the viewership and readership these days despite developing hit brands like Tasty and breakthrough shows like Hot Ones. VICE declared bankruptcy in 2023. They’ve both laid off staff and cut back on content - with the same has been true for Vox and Business Insider. While irresponsible spending accelerated their demise, Buzzfeed and VICE at their core are really more like driftwood. They were forever trapped in this volatile landscape of online advertising where they were initially beneficiaries of certain paradigm shifts - but then had the rug pulled out from under them.

It’s not just the startups that are hurting. When we look at the publishing landscape, the legacy publishers are not faring any better. They’re not losing as much money but they’re also not doing good business as earnings and profits are all trending down. How could so many shows and views be worth so little? In this episode, we’re diving into Buzzfeed, VICE, and analyzing other publishers like People, Business Insider, IGN, PCMag, and TIME to understand where it all went wrong.

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