Vice to start hiring as it targets Middle East millennials

Media group founded by Canadian entrepreneur is in Abu Dhabi looking to hire talent after Vice teamed up with Moby Group to expand across the region.

Shane Smith, the co-founder and chief executive of Vice Media. The company is in Abu Dhabi to hire new talent. Mike Blake / Reuters

Vice Media plans to start hiring journalists, film makers and creatives as it brings its uniquely millennial-focused media group to the Middle East.

The founder Shane Smith has teamed up with the Afghan businessman Saad Mohseni, the chairman of the Moby Group, which has media interests across the region.

The pair agreed a partnership last year and are now preparing to roll out programming to the major Middle East markets.

“We are here to look at who we’re going to hire for the team,” said Mr Smith, who is meeting with partners in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

“Our biggest concern is getting the mix right in terms of local and international content.”

The 47-year-old Emmy award winning journalist from Canada has overseen the transformation of what was a small magazine founded in Montreal in the early 1990s into one of the world’s fastest-growing media groups.

Vice is known for its often edgy and unconventional approach to news gathering, which has struck a chord with its mainly millennial audience.

With scoops such as the Cannibal Warlords of Liberia and The Islamic State, where a reporter embedded with ISIL for three weeks, it now reaches hundreds of millions of young people across its various platforms.

Last year the group operated in 30 countries but by the end of this year it expects that number to have grown to 80.

The Dubai-headquartered Moby Group has also expanded rapidly with 1,100 employees working across TV, radio and digital platforms.

Vice and Moby hope to both generate local content that can be exported to a global audience while at the same time bringing other programming in from outside the region.

The new venture is being established as regional governments, advertisers and other stakeholders seek to engage better with younger audiences who are turning away from many conventional media.

Follow The National's Business section on Twitter