Shane Smith (journalist)
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Shane Smith (born 28 September 1969) is a Canadian journalist and media executive. He is
executive chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of the international media company
Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); V ...
, operating an international network of digital channels, a television production studio, a record label, an in-house creative services agency, a book-publishing house, and a feature film division. Smith served as CEO of Vice from its founding until March 2018. Former
A+E Networks A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
Nancy Dubuc Nancy Jean Dubuc is an American businesswoman who currently serves as chief executive officer of the American-Canadian media company Vice Media. Early life and education Dubuc is the daughter of Carol D. Smith and Robert H. Dubuc Jr. Her parents ...
was named CEO 13 March 2018. In his role as Executive Chairman, "Smith will now be focused on creating content and strategic deals and partnerships to help grow the company."


Early life and education

Shane Smith was born in
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, in 1969. He attended the
Lisgar Collegiate Institute Lisgar Collegiate Institute is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board secondary school in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The school is located in downtown Ottawa by the Rideau Canal. History In 1843, a grammar school with 40 paying students was ...
and later graduated from
Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...
with a degree in English literature and
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
. Before Vice, Smith went to university in Ottawa, played in local punk bands, and travelled around
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
before moving to
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
.


Career

Smith,
Suroosh Alvi Suroosh Alvi (; born ) is a Canadian journalist and filmmaker. He is the co-founder of Vice Media, a digital media and broadcasting brand that operates in more than 50 countries. Alvi is a travelled journalist and an executive producer of film, ...
, and Smith's childhood friend
Gavin McInnes Gavin Miles McInnes (; born 17 July 1970) is a Canadian writer, podcaster and far-right commentator and founder of the Proud Boys. He is the host of '' Get Off My Lawn with Gavin McInnes'', on the subscription-based streaming media platform C ...
acquired the youth magazine ''Voice of Montreal'' in 1994 and changed its name to ''Vice''. The magazine was originally funded by the Government of Canada as part of a welfare program. After being acquired in 1999 and moving to New York City, Smith and his co-founders bought ''VICE'' back and moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 2001. Initially publishing print articles based on offbeat alternative culture, ''VICE'' moved to creating news content and
social criticism Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in particular with respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general. Social criticism of the Enlightenment The orig ...
on multiple media platforms in 2006. Smith remains an owner of the company, and ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' has described Smith as "a cross between a punk rocker and ''Fortune 500'' Executive". In 2006, on the advice from the company's creative director
Spike Jonze Adam H. Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze, is an American filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes commercials, film, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze began his ca ...
, VICE Media began expanding into
digital video Digital video is an electronic representation of moving visual images (video) in the form of encoded digital data. This is in contrast to analog video, which represents moving visual images in the form of analog signals. Digital video comprises ...
. This led to a massive expansion of VICE into new channels, including a partnership with
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
in 2010 for The Creators Project, as well as deals with partners like
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
,
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, and HBO, led by Smith. In April 2013, VICE started a new series with HBO, "VICE", in which Smith and other VICE correspondents cover news stories from around the globe. The show's second season won an Emmy for Outstanding Informational Series or Special. The show was picked up for two more 14-episode seasons by HBO in May 2014, which aired in 2015 and 2016. Based on the success of the weekly show, in 2015 HBO and VICE announced an expanded deal including a daily news show on
HBO Now HBO Now (formally named HBO from July 2020) was an American subscription video on demand streaming service for premium television network HBO owned by WarnerMedia subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc. Officially unveiled on March 9 and launched on ...
premiering in 2016, 32 VICE-produced specials over four years, and an expansion of the existing show from 14 to nearly 30 episodes per year. "VICE" started its 5th season of weekly broadcasts on HBO under the expanded episode deal on Friday, 24 February 2017. In 2015, VICE partnered with several companies, including
Verizon Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...
, Rogers Communications,
Live Nation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainme ...
,
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
and
Snapchat Snapchat is an American multimedia instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before the ...
, where VICE was a launch partner for Snapchat's “Discover” platform.


Journalism

As a journalist Smith has travelled to locations including North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Libya, Kashmir, Liberia, Sudan, and Greenland, initially for the 2006 online TV series ''VICE Guide to Travel''. Smith has continued to serve as a correspondent for VICE, appearing in online content as well as the host of VICE's HBO show and VICE Special Reports. In 2015, Smith accompanied US President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
as part of the president's first historic visit to a federal prison, interviewing Obama along with five non-violent drug offenders at El Reno Prison. He also conducted the first public interview with the
Eagles of Death Metal Eagles of Death Metal is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, formed in 1998. Founded by Jesse Hughes (vocals, guitar) and Josh Homme (drums), the band also includes a wide range of other musicians who perform both on the band's ...
following the 2015 terrorist shooting at their show at the
Bataclan Bataclan may refer to: *'' Ba-ta-clan'', a 1855 operetta by Jacques Offenbach * Bataclan (theatre), a theatre in Paris named after the operetta **Bataclan theatre massacre, November 2015 Paris attacks Music *''Bataclan 1989'', by Maxime Le Fores ...
in Paris that left 89 dead. On 9 December 2016, HBO broadcast "Vice Special Report: A House Divided", which explores the political dysfunction in the United States during the Obama presidency. The 75-minute program features Smith interviewing influential US politicians including President Obama, former Speaker of the House
John Boehner John Andrew Boehner ( ; born , 1949) is an American retired politician who served as the 53rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served 13 terms as the U.S. represe ...
and former House Majority Leader
Eric Cantor Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014. A Republican, Cantor served as House Minority ...
to understand the development of excessive polarization and gridlock, culminating in the 2016 presidential election. It was nominated for an Emmy award.


Partnerships and investors

In June 2014, it was reported that
Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
was negotiating to acquire a minority stake in VICE Media; among the company's plans were to give Vice Media control over the programming of HLN—a spin-off network of
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
which had recently struggled in its attempts to re-focus itself as a younger-skewing, social media-oriented news service. However, the deal fell through as the companies were unable to agree on a proper valuation, and VICE Media partnered with A&E Networks for a 10% minority stake in VICE Media for $250 million, keeping VICE Media independent. The following April, it was announced that A&E's channel H2 would be rebranded as VICELAND, a lifestyle channel aimed at millennials. On 29 February 2016, VICE Media officially launched VICELAND with investment support by Disney and A&E.
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
has since increased their stake in VICE Media through A&E with two $200 million investments—the first in November 2015, followed by the second a week later in December 2015—for a roughly 10% stake to assist in funding programming and growth. Smith, in interviews, has mentioned the possibility of VICE going public, saying in a 2015 interview: “There hasn’t been a media company like this to go public in 15 years… the markets would love it,” and he told CNBC in 2016 that “it’s the best time in history to be a
content creator Content creation is the contribution of information to any media and most especially to digital media for an end-user/audience in specific contexts. Content is "something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing or any of v ...
.” On 22 June 2016, VICE Media unveiled a number of international deals that, by the end of 2017, will make its programs available in over 50 new territories, over 80 in total. In 2015, ''
Canadian Business ''Canadian Business'' is the longest-publishing business magazine based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and founded in 1927. The print edition terminated in the end of 2016. Beginning in January 2017, the magazine was published online only. In Octob ...
'' placed him on "Canada's Richest People", claiming his net worth to be at $1.27 billion.


Personal life

Smith currently resides in
Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
, US with his wife, Tamyka, and his three daughters. In 2021 his wife Tamyka, filed for divorce.


Filmography

*2017: '' The Bad Batch'' (executive producer) *2016: "Vice Special Report: A House Divided" (host, executive producer) *2016: ''Vice Guide to Film'' (executive producer) *2016: ''Terror'' (executive producer) *2016: ''Abandoned'' (executive producer) *2016: ''Cyberwar'' (executive producer) *2016: ''Dead Set on Life'' (executive producer) *2015: "Contamination Nation" (executive producer) *2015: "The Gangs of El Salvador" (executive producer) *2014: ''Shot: The Mick Rock Documentary'' (executive producer) *2014: ''Fishing Without Nets'' (executive producer) *2013–Present: ''
VICE News Vice News (stylized as VICE News) is Vice Media's current affairs channel, producing daily documentary essays and video through its website and YouTube channel. It promotes itself on its coverage of "under-reported stories". Vice News was create ...
'' (TV Series documentary) (executive producer) *2013–Present: ''
VICE A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...
'' (writer, correspondent, executive producer) *2011: '' The VICE Guide To Everything'' (correspondent, executive producer) *2009: ''
White Lightnin' ''White Lightnin is a 2009 dramatic film directed by Dominic Murphy and written by Eddy Moretti and Shane Smith. It stars Edward Hogg, Carrie Fisher, Muse Watson. Inspired by the life of Jesco White, an Appalachian mountain dancer, it was sh ...
'' (screenplay) *2007: ''
Heavy Metal In Baghdad ''Heavy Metal in Baghdad'' is a 2007 rockumentary film following filmmakers Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi as they track down the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda amidst the Iraq War. Synopsis In 2003, the Iraqi heavy-metal band Acrassicauda ...
'' (executive producer) *2006: ''VICE Guide to Travel'' (writer, correspondent, executive producer, director, creator)


Awards

Smith's work on VICE's HBO show won him an
Emmy award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
in 2014, as well as a number of environmental awards for his work covering
global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
in Greenland, Antarctica and beyond. He has also been honoured with a Frank Stanton Award for Excellence in Communication, an LA Press Club Award, and two
Peabody award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
s for serving as executive producer of ''VICE News'' documentaries "The Islamic State" and "Last Chance High". *2016: Cannes Lions Media Person of the Year *2015: Peabody Award - ''VICE News'' segment, "The Islamic State" *2015: Peabody Award - ''VICE News'' segment, "Last Chance High" *2015: Environmental Media Association Award for Best Reality Television Program - ''VICE'' on HBO, "Our Rising Oceans" *2015: Advertising Age Creativity 50 All Stars *2015: Frank Stanton Award for Excellence in Communication *2015: Los Angeles Press Club Public Service Award In Journalism *2014: Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series or Special - ''VICE'' on HBO *2014: VICE Media ranked Fast Company's Number 3 Most Innovative Media Company *2014: Environmental Media Association Award Nomination for Best Reality Television Program - ''VICE'' on HBO, "Greenland is Melting" *2014: Brand Genius Award *2014: Knight Innovation Award *2013: VICE Media named Ad Age's Publishing Company of the Year *2010: VICE Magazine named to Ad Age Magazine A-List (first free publication to be recognized)


References


External links

*
Shane Smith
official
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
page {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Shane Canadian magazine founders Canadian magazine publishers (people) Canadian media executives 1969 births Living people Canadian arts journalists Canadian chief executives People from Ottawa Carleton University alumni Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian expatriate journalists in the United States People from Santa Monica, California Vice Media 21st-century Canadian businesspeople 21st-century Canadian journalists 21st-century publishers (people) Lisgar Collegiate Institute Canadian Screen Award winning journalists