At a time when journalists and news media agencies are is being harshly criticized for being too biased (to the right or left), Vice Media is standing out as a mostly impartial news reporting group helping to empower and advance the media reform movement.
When journalists and media agencies are neutral and demonstrate a lack of bias, they gain access to situations and organizations that would otherwise be inaccessible. News reporters who are sincere and respectful inspire those being interviewed to talk openly about their views and experiences.
VICE Media interviews controversial religious leaders, white nationalists, KKK members, and other seemingly untouchable members of society who normally shun outsiders and don’t trust reporters. VICE reporters go into war zones and prisons, taking cameras and straight questions to uncover the world around us.
Below are some examples of their reporting. Most of these stories are under-reported or not reported at all by larger network news agencies. As you watch the videos below, notice how VICE reporters express a genuine respect for those they interview, and that respect is returned, which permits open exchanges. It’s possible to be respectful of someone without admiring them or legitimizing their message.
NOTE: The content below contains views and opinions that many people will be offended by including offensive language, political extremism, religious extremism, racist views, gun fanaticism, and wide-spread civil unrest.
Unemployed Americans Are Smuggling Drugs to Survive the Pandemic (11 Feb 2021)
The Sinaloa cartel is enlisting unemployed Americans to move drugs over the border with Mexico. VICE News speaks with cartel members and smugglers adapting to pandemic conditions. [Note: This video was added to this article on 12 Feb 2021. The rest of this page was posted 13 Nov 2018.]
The Alt-Right One Year After Charlottesville (10 Aug 2018)
In the summer of 2017, the alt right was an internet movement, and its rally in Charlottesville was intended to prove they could operate in the real world. It proved the opposite. The marchers had promised there would be more to come — but that’s not what happened. (10 Aug 2018)
Charlottesville: Race and Terror (14 Aug 2017)
On Saturday hundreds of white nationalists, alt-righters, and neo-Nazis traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia to participate in the “Unite the Right” rally. By Saturday evening three people were dead – one protester, and two police officers – and many more injured. “VICE News Tonight” correspondent Elle Reeve went behind the scenes with white nationalist leaders, including Christopher Cantwell, Robert Ray, David Duke, and Matthew Heimbach — as well as counter-protesters. VICE News Tonight also spoke with residents of Charlottesville, members of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the Charlottesville Police. From the neo-Nazi protests at Emancipation Park to Cantwell’s hideaway outside of Virginia, “VICE News Tonight” provides viewers with exclusive, up close and personal access inside the unrest. (14 Aug 2017)
Inside America’s Largest Right Wing Militia (18 Oct 2017)
In the backwoods of Georgia, a controversial, right-wing, “anti-terror” militia group gathers once a month to complete field training exercises under the command of Chris Hill—a.k.a Blood Agent. This militia group, called the Georgia III% Security Force, is part of the Three Percenter movement, which is inspired by the unfounded claim that only three percent of colonists fought against the British in the American Revolution. VICE joins Hill and the Georgia III% Security Force during one of their monthly gatherings to see how they prepare themselves to “defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic” and see what they’ll do to protect their guns. (18 Oct 2017)
Fixing the System: VICE on HBO Special Report (12 Dec 2016)
In July 2015, Barack Obama became the first sitting president to visit a federal prison. He invited VICE along to film the historic event for part of a documentary, Fixing the System, which investigated America’s broken criminal justice system. This special originally aired on HBO in September 2015. VICE and HBO are making it available in full now for one week, as part of our announcement of the new VICE Apprenticeship Program, a six-month program to hire and train formerly incarcerated people to work at VICE. (12 Dec 2016)
The KKK vs. the Crips vs. Memphis City Council (6 Jun 2013)
In Memphis’s Forrest Park, there’s a statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the most infamous and powerful racists in American history. Lately it’s been at the center of the city’s often shaky race relations. Watch as the KKK, the Memphis City Council, and the local gang members fight for what they each believe is right. (6 Jun 2013)
Russian Religious Leader Claims He is Jesus (16 May 2012)
Deep in Siberia’s Taiga forest is Vissarion, a cult leader who looks like Jesus and claims to be the voice of God. He’s known as “the Teacher” to his 4,000 followers, who initially seem surprisingly normal. Over time, however, their unflinching belief in UFOs and the Earth’s imminent demise made this group start to look more and more like some sort of strange cult. (16 May 2012)