• by Ray Schultz , August 27, 2023

Vice Media, in a move that is perhaps symbolic of its situation, is giving up its 77,000-square foot office space in Brooklyn, New York. 

The staff will switch to remote work until the company finds a new space. Vice Media, which filed for bankruptcy in May, announced the shift in an internal memo. The story was first reported by Bloomberg. 

Giving up the space -- in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn -- seems part of a steady downward path for the organization.

In April, Vice Media pulled the plug on Vice News Tonight newscast amid layoffs reportedly totaling 250. Barely a month later, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, owing $834 million, according to a figure reported by The New York Times.

In a related development, four ex-staffers of Vice Media’s Motherboard tech site have founded a new site called 404 Media, according to the Times. This group includes Jason Koebler, former editor-in- chief of Motherboard; editors, Emanuel Maiberg and Samantha Cole; and writer Joseph Cox. Vice’s Cyber product bid a “bittersweet” farewell to Koebler.

404 Media will focus on such topics as hacking, sex work, niche online communities, and the “right to repair” movement, the Times writes.