Comments on: A slice of Vice on HBO

A slice of Vice on HBO

thisisdrew — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 10:16:49 -0800

Bringing VICE to HBO: To win over the cable network, the Vice team assembled a "best of" reel that included stories on North Korean labor camps, Liberia and the gun markets of Pakistan and later produced a pilot that included stories about Afghan suicide bombers and underground heroin clinics.

Audio interview (mp3) with VICE founder Shane Smith, from the Joe Rogan podcast.

By: thisisdrew

thisisdrew — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 10:29:31 -0800

previously .. previously .. previously

By: Theta States

Theta States — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 10:37:48 -0800

Oh Shane Smith, I remember when you were just a skater on drugs, and now you are... a skater on drugs with a media empire. Well done, sir.

By: eas98

eas98 — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 10:47:47 -0800

I am really looking forward to this.

By: kliuless

kliuless — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 10:56:22 -0800

"A fascinating profile of a drug dealer in New York..."

By: roger ackroyd

roger ackroyd — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 11:31:50 -0800

I understand how this partnership strengthens both brands but "Gen Y has the largest amount of disposable income, so we should be making media for them, and yet we don't and especially we don't for news," says Smith, who serves as CEO and spokesperson for Vice Media. serious question - is Generation Y going to go to HBO for its news? That seems like quite a leap.

By: spilon

spilon — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 11:57:04 -0800

"Gen Y has the largest amount of disposable income..." Wait, I thought Gen Y was unemployed, drowning in debt, and living in their parent's basement?

By: mullingitover

mullingitover — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 11:57:19 -0800

serious question - is Generation Y going to go to HBO for its news? That seems like quite a leap. Yes they are. But--it's hbogo.com, and it's with their friend's borrowed login.

By: Balok

Balok — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 13:17:44 -0800

I'd like to see the reel, so I could put it on Facebook.

By: porpoise

porpoise — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 15:37:48 -0800

Wait, I thought Gen Y was unemployed, drowning in debt, and living in their parent's basement? You know how much money you save mooching off your folks? That's a lot of disposable income.

By: AzzaMcKazza

AzzaMcKazza — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 16:41:07 -0800

As much as I hate the Vice magazine feel (Just feels like its trying so hard, reminds me of panties and makes me feel dirty just holding it) The 'Vice Guide to....' series are the best stuff out there.

By: WhackyparseThis

WhackyparseThis — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 17:06:23 -0800

is Generation Y going to go to HBO for its news? No, they go to The Daily Show for news. HBO is for current affairs.

By: hippybear

hippybear — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 18:52:19 -0800

I've nearly linked to several Vice documentary things here on the Blue, but then I watch them a second time to make sure I want to, and in the end they feel just.. off somehow. Maybe it's the slice of what they offer that I tend to watch, but they felt less like they were covering a real story and more like they were someone's video diary of trying to find a story to cover.

By: Brocktoon

Brocktoon — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 20:36:44 -0800

I remember when Vice was a magazine that made fun of Canadians with fanny packs. Now this, this I can be fascinated by.

By: bardic

bardic — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 21:38:50 -0800

Not sure why Vice gets so much hate. They've made some really good documentaries in an age where network and cable news are basically un-watchable.

By: hippybear

hippybear — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 21:43:47 -0800

I don't hate Vice... I just have a hard time recommending it to others because what I've seen has had an odd twist which moves it away from being a documentary and more toward being a document about wanting to make a documentary. If that makes any sense.

By: jscott

jscott — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 22:13:57 -0800

Vice will, forever and always to me, be the guys who got screamed at by David Carr in the New York Times documentary "Page One" and had their asses handed back to them.

By: panaceanot

panaceanot — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 22:36:23 -0800

I really enjoyed the Vice Guide to North Korea, and admired their determination, persistance and brass balls in finding a way into the North. They made it sound like a massively hardcore mission through a secret back door from China, because tourists weren't allowed in. Going where no man has gone before. Then I found out about sites like: Koryo Tours of North Korea New Korea Tours Korea Discovery etc. etc... When they hyped that part up so much, it got me wondering about the veracity of the rest of their 'journalism'.

By: broadway bill

broadway bill — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 23:27:50 -0800

Man, I just watched that David Carr video, and while I have some similar critiques of Vice, David Carr is just such an ass. I will never forgive him for his piece of shit book.

By: bardic

bardic — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 02:28:58 -0800

Yeah, I read the clip differently as well. More like "aging, self-important David Carr gets huffy when he realizes that 'real' journalism is pretty much shit no matter how great he thinks the NYT is. Also, Judy Miller."

By: delmoi

delmoi — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 02:43:57 -0800

I don't hate Vice... I just have a hard time recommending it to others because what I've seen has had an odd twist which moves it away from being a documentary and more toward being a document about wanting to make a documentary.

Sure. The VICE films tend to seem like "We tried to do X, here's what happened" In a way, to me at least it seems "more honest" because they're showing you what actually happened, the result of the experiment. With more traditional news clips they go somewhere, they don't tell you what actually happened.

I really enjoyed the Vice Guide to North Korea, and admired their determination, persistance and brass balls in finding a way into the North. They made it sound like a massively hardcore mission through a secret back door from China, because tourists weren't allowed in. Going where no man has gone before.

It's much, much more difficult to get in if you're an American or South Korean. I think the guy doing the documentary might have been Canadian, I don't remember. But if you know anything about North Korea you know they can and do give people tours, which is what this guy did. It's not impossible, but it's not super easy either. I didn't get from the piece that they were claiming to have done something unprecedented.

By: beerbajay

beerbajay — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 06:55:24 -0800

David Carr is just such an ass. I agree, he was such an uncritical little cheerleader for the Times and it's a shame he took up such a large part of Page One because it could have been such an interesting film.

By: Theta States

Theta States — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 09:48:19 -0800

But if you know anything about North Korea you know they can and do give people tours, which is what this guy did. It's not impossible, but it's not super easy either. Also, the guy had to have permission for his cameras. And even then he filmed in places he wasn't supposed to.