UPDATE: Inexplicably, Vice has taken its apology letter down. Weird. But you can still find a cached version here. (Thanks, Google, the sometimes-benevolent big brother). Also, the Vice fixer’s perspective has been taken off his blog. Find it cached, here. What’s going on, Vice people? Why all the sudden not-copping-to things?
Vice media has gotten in some hot water for a recent eight-part series on Liberia. Vice’s particular “journalism style,” as one of its fans and commentators calls it, is uniquely unsuited for a place like Liberia. You just can’t do the stuff Vice does and not come off looking like insensitive idiots in a place like Liberia. What I mean to say is, I’m not faulting Vice for making everyone in Liberia look like cannibals or drug addicts; I’m just saying it was naive of them to be surprised that being edgy didn’t play so well in Liberia.
Anyway, you can get a roundup of the controversy here and you can (and should) read from a journalist who worked with the crew. And here’s Vice’s quasi-apology. They do say sorry for causing offense. But they don’t really seem bothered by the fact that most Liberians aren’t cannibals, but now many white people think they are, thanks to Vice.
But that’s about as far as I’m going to wade into this mess.
