Vocativ Shifts Entirely to Video, Ditches Editorial Staff


fourth estate newVocativ, the online news source that promised to search the deep web for stories, announced on Wednesday that it was shifting entirely to video production. As a result, it has laid off its editorial team.

The outlet has tried to stay in front of the story and spin it as the next evolution of the company. “Since its founding in late 2013, Vocativ has pioneered a new form of digital journalism using our proprietary technology to tell award-winning stories across a range of formats including on our website, social media and television,” a spokesman for Vocativ said.

“As the industry evolves, we are undertaking a strategic shift to focus exclusively on video content that will be distributed via social media and other platforms. The tremendous success we’ve experienced since our launch in both long- and short-form video has positioned us well for this evolution.”

Vocativ also announced the news itself in an article titled, “Vocativ Announces Exclusive Focus On Video.”

“This means that we will be phasing out written stories. We want to assure you this is not a decision we made lightly given the impact it will have on the team,” the article states.

“We are truly grateful for the hard work that all of our journalists, editors, videographers and publishers have contributed to Vocativ. It is through your relentless efforts to pursue the next great story that we have grown into the successful and innovative company that we are today and will be in the future.”

Vocativ has had success with its video output. It has produced the series Dark Net for Showtime and that series recently concluded its second season.

The layoffs were not the only ones to hit the news industry this week. Time, Inc. had a round of layoffs as did HuffPost.


About Tyler

Tyler is the chief media reporter for TKNN, with the news organization since its founding in November of 2010. He has previously served as chief political reporter and chief political anchor for TKNN.

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