Vice Straddles the Line

January 23, 2013

As unlikely as it sounds, the future of publishing could be written, in part, inside a converted warehouse in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the unofficial capital of Hipster USA. That’s where Vice Media is trying to strike the balance of maintaining its indie publishing cred while operating as a marketing arm for the world’s biggest brands.

Vice began as “Voice of Montreal,” a magazine funded by the Canadian government. In 1994, Shane Smith, Suroosh Alvi and Gavin McInnes bought the publication and built up its reputation as the home of gonzo-style reporting at a time of watered-down journalism in the age of corporate...