Vice is still not ready to announce its much-rumored linear channel, but the media company unveiled its 11th digital channel today. Broadly is the first Vice site designed for women.
Broadly will join a crowded fray of female-interest sites including Jezebel, Hairpin and Bustle, but the site's editor in chief and director of content Tracie Egan Morrissey tells Adweek there will be one noticeable difference:
"The first thing is that there are no fucking comments on the site."
A Jezebel alum, Morrissey said that was one of the biggest issues she faced while at the Gawker-owned site and wants to have a place that doesn't include the typical online vitriol directed toward women or those who talk about women's issues. "If you want to say something nice you can email us, if you want to say something mean you can go to hell," she said. "My writers deserve to be protected from that bullshit."
Launching in the U.S., U.K. and Canada, Broadly will touch on topics from a female perspective including politics, culture, sex and fashion. Morrissey, along with the site's publisher Shannon Kelley, have been working on the site for the past 10 months.
With Vice being know predominately for edgy, male-skewing fare, Broadly represents a departure for Vice. "I have always been a huge fan of Vice's tone and their approach," said Morrissey. "Nobody does digital media the way that Vice does." And Morrissey hopes to incorporate Vice's approach of going out and finding under-reported stories, something she believes is missing from other women-focused sites.
"They're joining or responding to a conversation that's already taking place," she said. "With Broadly, the goal is to drive the conversation."
The site will launch with three new series: Ovary Action, which explores reproductive health and fertility; Broadly Meets, interviews with notable people (Rose McGowan is up first); and the fashion-focused Style and Error.
Upcoming series and documentaries include Gangs, which explores how women all over the world band together over common interests; and Samburu: Land of No Men, about a female tribe in Kenya that formed when local women were abandoned by their community. "It just seems perfect to be able to tackle these issues and to do a women's issue site with that same tone, confidence and production value of their video," said Morrissey.
On the editorial side, the channel also features an investigation into the cyber attacks against Planned Parenthood, a history of the fedora and a daily marijuana column.
"It wasn't really top of mind for a while to start a women's site, so it's just really great timing," said Kelley. "If anyone is going to do it, we should really be doing that."
