VICE News unveils first ever global desk to cover extremism
VICE News announced the launch of The VICE News Extremism Desk, a first-of-its-kind, multi-platform desk covering terrorism, ethnonationalism, white supremacy, Neo-Nazism, militias, and dangerous religious hate groups.
The Extremism Desk will be a premier platform for award-winning reporting on all of these topics, paying close attention to the links between digital disinformation and extremism. Comprised of a team of veteran and award-winning journalists based in London, New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Amsterdam, Washington, and beyond, the Extremism Desk will work across all of VICE News’ publishing platforms: long-form documentary work, TV series, VICE News Tonight, digital video, written editorial, social and audio.
The desk will launch with a Vice News Tonight special report looking back at the ‘Unite the Right’ rally that took place in Charlottesville four years ago where self-proclaimed white supremacist, James Alex Fields Jr., drove his car through the crowd and killed Heather Heyer. The organizers of the rally were recently found liable for damages by a court.
The VICE News Tonight special report will look back at that fateful weekend in August of 2017 with the original award-winning documentary by VICE News, and deeper dives into the white nationalist movement as it stands now in 2021 with correspondent Vegas Tenold, who wrote the book on the rebirth of the movement.
The special will then delve into the verdict and its impact with Senior Reporter Tess Owen, who has covered this case extensively and is a renowned expert on the extremism movements in North America. The launch will start continued multi-platform coverage of the topic. VICE News digital will release a comprehensive package on the anniversary of the Jan. 6th Insurrection, including exclusive reporting on the growth of the Proud Boys movement since that day, a deep dive into the extremist takeover of elements of the GOP, and a moving look at the families who’ve turned on their rioter relatives. Senior Reporter of VICE World News, Tim Hume will also publish a series of reports investigating the UK’s sovereign citizen movement.
Jesse Angelo, President of Global News and Entertainment, Vice Media Group: “VICE News has always been the global leader in extremism coverage, spanning multiple platforms and multiple formats. By bringing that work under one umbrella, the Extremism Desk allows us to extend and amplify our groundbreaking journalism, share sources and knowledge among our staff, and ultimately bring more vital reporting to the world. We are at a crucial point in history – the Extremism Desk will provide journalism that is needed now more than ever.”
Spanning across domestic and international coverage, the Extremism Desk builds on VICE News’ years of authoritative reporting in this area, which has garnered a duPont Columbia Silver Baton, multiple Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, a George Polk Award, and many other prestigious journalism honors.
The Desk will soon publish exclusive reporting on Satanic-Nazi terror movements, as well as continued coverage of The Proud Boys, modern-day militias, Qanon conspiracy theories, disinformation, and more. The team is comprised of Senior Reporters Tess Owen, Ben Makuch, Mack Lamoureux, Tim Hume, Anna Merlan, Staff Reporter David Gilbert, correspondent Vegas Tenold, Reporter Mohammed Rasool, DC Bureau Chief, and correspondent Seb Walker, and Senior correspondent and Producer Gianna Toboni. Other members of the Vice News teams across all formats will contribute special reports and projects with regularity.
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