VICE’s Shane Smith to Deliver Edinburgh’s MacTaggart Lecture

EDINBURGH: Shane Smith, founder and CEO of VICE Media, will deliver this year’s James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.

Smith will speak about VICE’s evolution from a print magazine into a multimedia operation that includes a TV channel. He will also evaluate the changing dynamic between old and new media and discuss how to create and distribute content for a young global audience across all screens, while supporting the next generation of filmmakers.

Advisory Chair Fiona Campbell said: “I am thrilled to welcome Shane Smith to the TV Festival as the 41st MacTaggart speaker. The television landscape is changing so dramatically in Britain and internationally, and who better to illustrate this evolution than Shane Smith. Over two decades he has transformed VICE from a magazine to an enviable global media player, producing cutting-edge content and engaging a range of audiences—not least elusive Millennials. From the journalistic ethos to revenue generation, distribution to marketing, and its attitude to collaboration and targeting younger audiences, VICE is a fascinating transformational brand.”

Smith commented: “This year will be a bloodbath. New media will consolidate or get bought up by old media who will continue to flail about in the froth of de-stratification of the status quo. In the midst of all this chaos new media monoliths will be born. Good times. (Discuss.)”