In October 1994, three young men in Montreal created a magazine called Voice of Montreal with the explicit goal of helping social welfare recipients gain work experience through a Quebec government job creation program. What began as a humble spin-off of a multicultural publication called Images quickly evolved into something far more ambitious and controversial. Suroosh Y. Alvi served as editor, Gavin McInnes as assistant editor, and Shane Smith joined the staff shortly after, all working to document Montreal's alternative cultural scene in the Plateau Mont-Royal and Mile-End neighborhoods. These areas were home to burgeoning collectives like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Dummies Theatre, and Bran Van 3000, creating a fertile ground for a publication that would eventually cover everything from music and art to drug culture. The trio bought out the original publisher and changed the name to Vice in 1996, setting the stage for a media empire that would eventually span the globe. Richard Szalwinski, a Canadian software millionaire, acquired the magazine and relocated the operation to New York City in 1999, transforming it from a local zine into a provocative force in the media landscape. Under Szalwinski's ownership, the magazine developed a reputation for politically incorrect content and even opened retail stores in New York City where customers could purchase fashion items advertised in the magazine. However, the end of the dot-com bubble forced the three founders to regain ownership of the Vice brand and close the stores, marking a pivotal moment in the company's history.
From Provocation To Global News
By the end of 2007, Vice had expanded to 13 foreign editions and launched VBS.com, an online video channel that attracted 184,000 unique viewers from the U.S. during August alone. The magazine began featuring articles on serious topics like armed conflict in Iraq, a stark departure from its earlier focus on punk culture and drug scenes. Suroosh Alvi explained to The New York Times in November 2007 that the world was much bigger than the Lower East Side and the East Village, signaling a strategic shift toward global journalism. This transformation included the launch of the British edition in 2002, with Andy Capper as its first editor, who stated the publication's remit was to cover things people were meant to be ashamed of, including topics like bukkake and bodily functions. The magazine's content varied dramatically, often featuring writers who submitted only a small number of articles, resulting in a political and cultural stance that was frequently unclear or contradictory. Despite this, Vice championed the immersionist school of journalism, a DIY antithesis to mainstream news methods, and published entire issues dedicated to the concerns of Iraqi people, Native Americans, Russian people, and individuals with mental disorders. By February 2013, Vice produced 24 global editions with a circulation of 1,147,000, including 100,000 in the UK, and employed 800 worldwide staff members alongside 3,500 freelancers.