{"id":28372,"date":"2023-09-11T12:03:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T19:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=28372"},"modified":"2023-09-11T12:03:01","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T19:03:01","slug":"vice-pulled-a-documentary-critical-of-saudi-arabia-but-here-it-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/09\/11\/vice-pulled-a-documentary-critical-of-saudi-arabia-but-here-it-is\/","title":{"rendered":"VICE PULLED A DOCUMENTARY CRITICAL OF SAUDI ARABIA. BUT HERE IT IS."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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<\/a>Vice\u2019s \u201cInside Saudi Crown Prince\u2019s Ruthless Quest for Power\u201d was uploaded to the Vice News YouTube channel on June 19, 2023, but the link now shows a message that says \u201cvideo unavailable.\u201d\u00a0Photo: The Intercept<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vice\u2019s hard-nosed coverage on Saudi Arabia changed after investment deals with the repressive kingdom. A deleted documentary is not completely gone, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nikita Mazurov<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 9 2023, 7:00 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IN THE PAST, Vice has documented the history of censorship<\/a> on YouTube. More recently, since the company\u2019s near implosion, it became an active participant in making things disappear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June, six months after announcing a partnership deal with a Saudi Arabian government-owned media company, Vice uploaded but then quickly removed a documentary critical of the Persian Gulf monarchy\u2019s notorious dictator, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nearly nine-minute film, titled \u201cInside Saudi Crown Prince\u2019s Ruthless Quest for Power,\u201d was uploaded to the Vice News YouTube channel on June 19, 2023. It garnered more than three-quarters of a million views before being set to \u201cprivate\u201d within four days of being posted. It can no longer be seen at its original link<\/a> on Vice\u2019s YouTube channel; visitors see a message that says \u201cvideo unavailable.\u201d Vice did not respond to a request for comment on why the video was published and then made private or if there are any plans to make the video public again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/o.prod.theintercept.com\/checkout\/template\/cacheableShow?aid=hsZyoAWmIE&templateId=OTEXERHVRCE9&templateVariantId=OTVEIU52VT7IF&offerId=fakeOfferId&experienceId=EX3LBE28N473&iframeId=offer_d95877cf7d9b23ea09ec-0&displayMode=inline&pianoIdUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fid.tinypass.com%2Fid%2F&widget=template&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheintercept.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Guardian first reported<\/a> that a \u201cfilm in the Vice world news Investigators series about Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman was deleted from the internet after being uploaded.\u201d Though Vice did remove the film from its public YouTube channel, it is, in fact, not \u201cdeleted from the internet\u201d and presently remains publicly accessible<\/a> via web archival services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vice Pulled a Documentary Critical of Saudi Arabia. But Here It Is.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vice\u2019s description of the video, now also unavailable on YouTube, previously stated<\/a> that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed \u201corchestrates The Ritz Purge, kidnaps Saudi\u2019s elites and royal relatives with allegations of torture inside, and his own men linked to the brutal hacking of Journalist Khashoggi \u2013 a murder that stunned the world.\u201d The description goes on to state that Wall Street Journal reporters Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck \u201cattempt to unfold the motivations of the prince\u2019s most reckless decision-making.\u201d Hope and Scheck are the co-authors of the 2020 book \u201cBlood and Oil: Mohammed bin Salman\u2019s Ruthless Quest for Global Power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image: The Intercept; Source: Vice News<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the documentary, Hope states that Crown Prince Mohammed is \u201cdisgraced internationally\u201d owing to the Jamal Khashoggi murder, a topic<\/a> which Vice critically covered at length in the past. More recently, however, Vice has shifted its coverage of Saudi Arabia, apparently due to the growth of its commercial relationship with the kingdom. The relationship appears to have begun in 2017<\/a>, owing to MBS\u2019s younger brother, Khalid bin Salman, being infatuated with the brand; bin Salman reportedly set up a meeting between Vice co-founder Shane Smith and MBS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of 2018, Vice had worked with the Saudi Research and Media Group to produce promotional videos for Saudi Arabia<\/a>. A few days after the Guardian piece detailing the deal came out, an \u201cindustry source\u201d told Variety<\/a> (whose parent company, Penske Media Corporation, received $200 million<\/a> from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund earlier that year) that Vice was \u201creviewing\u201d its contract with SRMG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A subsequent Guardian investigation<\/a> revealed that in 2020, Vice helped organize a Saudi music festival subsidized by the Saudi government. Vice\u2019s name was not listed on publicity materials for the event, and contractors working on the event were presented with nondisclosure agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, Vice opened an office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The media company has gone from being \u201cbanned from filming in Riyadh<\/a>\u201d in 2018 to now actively recruiting<\/a> for a producer \u201cresponsible for developing and assisting the producing of video content from short form content to long-form for our new media brand, headquartered in Riyadh.\u201d The company lists 11 other Riyadh-based openings<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on the opening of the Riyadh office, a Vice spokesperson told<\/a> the Guardian that \u201cour editorial voice has and always will report with complete autonomy and independence.\u201d In response to the Guardian recently asking<\/a> about the rationale for the removal of the film, a Vice source stated that this was partially owing to concerns about the safety of Saudi-based staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2022, the New York Times reported<\/a> that Vice was considering engaging in a deal with the Saudi media company MBC. The deal was officially announced<\/a> at the start of 2023. Most recently, the Guardian reported that Vice shelved a story which stated that the \u201cSaudi state is helping families to harass and threaten transgender Saudis based overseas.\u201d In response to this latest instance of apparent capitulation to advancing Saudi interests, the Vice Union issued a statement<\/a> saying that it was \u201chorrified but not shocked.\u201d It added, \u201cWe know the company is financially bankrupt, but it shouldn\u2019t be morally bankrupt too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, a map of Saudi Arabia reportedly hangs<\/a> on a wall in Vice\u2019s London office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vice\u2019s \u201cInside Saudi Crown Prince\u2019s Ruthless Quest for Power\u201d was uploaded to the Vice News YouTube channel on June 19, 2023, but the link now shows a message that says \u201cvideo unavailable.\u201d\u00a0Photo: The Intercept Vice\u2019s hard-nosed coverage on Saudi Arabia changed after investment deals with the repressive kingdom. A deleted… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1042],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28372"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28372"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28373,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28372\/revisions\/28373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}