[caseyross]

Isn't it more likely to be the case that no one was willing to pay for the investigative journalism?

You see this everywhere. The clickbait is a funding source for the real work. Journalists almost never want to push garbage on the public --- they're usually forced to by management, either as an attempt at growth-at-all-costs or as a revenue source of last resort.

[gspencley]

Given they are declaring bankruptcy, there seems to be a signal indicating the possibility that no one was willing to pay for the alternative either.

[clemailacct1]

This is so spot on of a rebuttal. Vice’s shift into what they’ve become was a top-down terrible choice from what they used to be.