Vice Media is courting women.
The edgy, male-driven media company is launching Broadly, its first female-focused channel, this spring. Vice’s plan for the new online vertical is to tell a range of stories that interest women, covering a variety of topics including politics, culture, lifestyle, sex and fashion.
Among the series that will air on the channel is A Day in the Life, which will examine the careers and lifestyles of everyone from a bullfighter to a ballerina. Each episode will shadow one woman for a day and give a glimpse into her world. Also in the lineup is Style and Error, a fashion-focused show that will attempt to make the high-end world of fashion more accessible by “getting super deep with the superficial.” Another show set to launch is How (Blank) Found Feminism, which will tell a new story in each episode of what led public figures to declare themselves feminists.
Shanon Kelley is leading the launch of Broadly as publisher and Tracie Egan Morrissey, who joined Vice from female-centric blog Jezebel last year, is heading up editorial as director of content.
“If you look at the current landscape of women’s media, it is purely reactionary,” says Kelley. “Blogs are either reacting to the news, gossiping about celebrities or discussing the latest beauty and fashion trends. No one is telling original stories that women specifically relate to. For Vice, it is in our DNA to provide original, story-driven video content and speak to a millennial audience.”
Morrissey adds that the goal of the channel is to “give a consistent, sustained focus to women and what matters most to them — to actually get it right through original reporting and documentary videos. We’re going to be telling the stories you won’t hear anywhere else.”
Vice, which has styled itself as an untraditional news outlet for men, could face hurdles in becoming known as an authoritative voice for women. But Vice chief creative officer Eddy Moretti noted on Wednesday that the company is becoming “less dude.” Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at Canadian Screen Week in Toronto he said that “the brand has been evolving for 20 years, and it did skew more male originally, but the last five or six years has been about widening the umbrella and evening out the demo and the split there.”
Kelley, who has been with Vice for nearly six years, echoes that sentiment and notes that Vice hired its first female editor-in-chief, Ellis Jones, earlier this month and has female COO Alyssa Mastromonaco. “It’s an exciting time to be here and witness where we’re headed.”
Broadly is the fourth channel to launch from Vice in the last year. The company expanded with News, Munchies and Sports verticals last spring.
