Both Vice Media and BuzzFeed have been avatars for the entire industry, having served as the two highest-profile pioneers that paved the (short) road for other digital-first upstarts. At one point, the outlets inspired fear in their legacy media competitors, with each valued at billions of dollars while making splashy hires and threatening further disruption.

Now they’re struggling to keep their head above water.

The demise of Vice Media as we know it is a particularly hard pill to swallow.