[RIslander]

This is the official thread to post an interesting VICE News segment along with a description and your thoughts.

For those of you that are unfamiliar, VICE News is an international news channel that broadcasts short segments on current events. I find the segments to be the complete opposite of what is produced by the modern American media: they are objective, without agendas and the reporters are not afraid to get down and dirty.

YouTube Channel: Vice News

VICE News reporters drop themselves in dangerous situations around the world to report on important situations by interviewing politicians, military officers and criminals among others.

I personally watch a segment every morning while I have coffee. As a bonus, many of the segments are in Spanish or Russian with English subtitles, which will aid those studying one of those languages.

[RIslander]

I'll kick it off:

The following is a segment on how the US War on Drugs is failing. By defeating cocaine production in Colombia, it has created a "squeezing balloon effect" that has pushed production in to rural Peru. The reporter interviews politicians, police commanders and the actual drug farmers and manufacturers.

Over a trillion dollars have been spent on America's war yet virtually no progress has been seen.

LOL at the trashy Canadian broad at 27:10

[Erasmus]

My favorite

LOL at weak little phaggot presenter
he does a good job though

[TheWastelander]

This one's my favorite:

[Sonsowey]

The entire documentary about The Islamic State, truly amazing look into another world:

[Laurifer]

They are without agenda until you're able to tell they lean left in many of their documentaries. Look at most of their journalists, they're counter-cultured raging hipsters that usually try to indicate the absurdity, or make fun of, whichever side they don't agree with. It's typically the usual suspects, big evil government and corporations.

I need to stop before I derail the thread even more. All of that aside, many of their documentaries are still damn good and I'm still a viewer of their content. Their Afghanistan documentary "this is what winning looks like" was amazing.

[scotian]

I think that this video should be required viewing for all RVF guys who come to Colombia. I don't like to fear monger about coming down here and of course, I encourage all to visit this wonderful country, although everyone should be aware of the crazy shit that goes on down here. Now, I know that most of you are thinking, "how common is this shit?" Admittedly, it isn't that common, but I was drinking with four other RVF dudes, the other night, one guy was new here and the other guy fairly recent too, but three of us were "Colombian vets" and we all told our stories and yes, all three of us had experiences with being drugged and robbed in Colombia. Myself, it wasn't too bad, they only took 300.000 Pesos and left me with my wallet and debit card, while they could have taken me on a "paseo millionario" where they hold you at gun point and visit multiple ATMs to drain your bank account. One of the other RVF dudes woke up three days later without his Iphone, laptop, etc but at least the fuckers left his passport and bank cards.

The other Vice videos on Colombia are about the Costenos who fuck donkeys and the Paisas who get fake arse implants, highly entertaining.

[Pete]

While I enjoy many of their documentaries (and they sometimes bring a new perspective), some of them are not objective.

They have an agenda, just like Laurifer said.

That said, I like most of their videos/documentaries.

[Libertas]

(12-29-2014 01:54 PM)RIslander Wrote:  

For those of you that are unfamiliar, VICE News is an international news channel that broadcasts short segments on current events. I find the segments to be the complete opposite of what is produced by the modern American media: they are objective, without agendas and the reporters are not afraid to get down and dirty.

Are you serious? As others have mentioned, it's basically documentaries for hipsters.

Maybe they were objective once, but not anymore.

[Aros]

No documentary is objective, at some point a camera man made a decision about what is relevant and what is not. Any documentary is a representation of the world, whether it fits your frame or not is the question. More questions should be asked before concluding, is the production informative, does it explore the subject sufficiently and bring multiple perspectives into play? I think Vice have made some good documentaries, they have good equipment and skilled cameramen, but I feel that the majority of their content is sensation seeking. From my perspective they are entertaining but not relevant.

[tawm]

(12-29-2014 10:02 PM)Laurifer Wrote:  

I need to stop before I derail the thread even more. All of that aside, many of their documentaries are still damn good and I'm still a viewer of their content. Their Afghanistan documentary "this is what winning looks like" was amazing.

Man it's crazy how much Sangin has changed since I was there in 2010. A lot safer, way less kinetic. Definitely can speak to the raw frustration of working with askars--that documentary doesn't show the fistfights or EXTREMELY close calls as a result of their uncouth negligence. Actually if I remember correctly, a buddy of mine is in "This Is What Winning Looks Like". Look for shots of the asshole with the noticeably strange-looking antenna on his back and it's probably him.

As for the validity of VICE, I'm divided. As said before, most of their correspondents come off as doughy, petulant, hipster douchecanoes. Fortunately they have a couple correspondents like that British guy who seems worth his salt. And grudgingly, they seem to be the only game in town as far as reporting non-mainstream stuff that SHOULD be reported.

That being said,

[Chaos]

The series from the war in Ukraine were pretty interesting.
Or let's say very interesting from my point of view.

[Tex Pro]

This is a good vid about how the USA created the Islamic State:

[RIslander]

Dear lord the Aussies are giving the Americans a run for their money when it comes to landwhales. They're bigger than the actual cows at 2:13.

12:00:

[RIslander]

(12-31-2014 12:33 AM)Tex Pro Wrote:  

This is a good vid about how the USA created the Islamic State:

This was excellent, thanks for sharing.