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After nearly three decades, Vice<\/em> will stop publishing stories to its website. Vice Media CEO Bruce Dixon said today that the company is going to lay off hundreds of employees as it plans a shift toward social platforms, according to a memo to employees<\/a> obtained by Washington Post<\/em> reporter Will Sommer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt is no longer cost-effective for us to distribute our digital content the way we have done previously,\u201d Dixon writes. \u201cMoving forward we will look to partner with established media companies to distribute our digital content, including news, on their global platforms, as we fully transition to a studio model.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Vice<\/em> has been struggling with many of the same challenges affecting other companies across the media industry. Advertising has become a less lucrative way to monetize content, and audiences are becoming more difficult to reach directly. That\u2019s why Vice<\/em> is moving toward new revenue streams, such as licensing out its content and focusing on social platforms with bigger scale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Earlier on Thursday, Vice<\/em> writers began backing up their content after an anonymous tip<\/a> suggested the site would be shutting down. It\u2019s still not clear whether Vice<\/em> will shutter its website altogether \u2014 as we\u2019ve seen with The Messenger<\/em><\/a> \u2014 or if the website will remain online but inactive. The Verge<\/em> reached out to Vice<\/em> for more information but did not receive a response before publication.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Dixon says the layoffs will affect \u201cseveral hundred\u201d employees. He adds that Refinery 29<\/em>, which is also owned by Vice Media, will \u201ccontinue to operate as a standalone diversified digital publishing business\u201d even as the company looks to sell the site.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n