The downfall of Vice Media has given rise to a new technology outlet—one shepherded by some who propped up Vice itself.
Four former editors and one writer on Vice’s Motherboard vertical launched 404 Media on Tuesday, planning to carry on their technology reporting while focusing on its impact on humans. The launch comes just three weeks after Motherboard’s top two editors, Jason Koebler and Emanuel Maiberg, departed Vice following its bankruptcy sale.
“We’ll go where others won’t, talk to people who are overlooked, and expose those who do not want to be seen,” Maiberg said in a statement on the new venture. “We’ll show what is often forgotten: the humans who shape technology, and the impact their decisions have on the lives of ordinary people.”
Maiberg and Koebler are both involved in the new venture. The two are joined by Motherboard senior editor Samantha Cole and senior writer Joseph Cox. The company has opted for a subscription-based model, allowing readers to choose between a $10 monthly buy-in or $100 annually. The founders have left open the room for advertising but say their goal is to focus on funding journalistic endeavors first before venturing into different revenue sources. They’ve also bucked venture capital investments at launch.
“A sustainable business will allow us to focus on producing impactful journalism,” Cox, a former reporter for The Daily Beast, said in a statement. “We’ll have the freedom to pursue stories we think will contribute to important conversations and spur those in power to take action. We did that work at Motherboard, and with the freedom of being a journalist-founded outlet, we can produce even more of it.”
News outlets run by journalists themselves have proliferated in recent years, bolstered by the rise of subscription-based blogs and newsletters. The founders told The New York Times they were inspired by the likes of Defector and Hell Gate, both of which were launched by journalists who bucked traditional media models. Other prominent examples included The Ankler, which has since established itself as a formidable Hollywood media player, and the 2021 relaunch of The Appeal, a worker-driven outlet focused on the criminal justice system.
404 Media’s launch also comes three weeks after Vice Media closed its bankruptcy sale to its former lenders, completing a three-month fall from grace that saw staffers laid off and freelancers go unpaid for months. The outlet has promised to pay all staffers and freelancers severance and owed payments, though its union said last week that scores of laid-off employees have yet to receive a paycheck.
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