Vice News on Friday announced the launch of a new video series and podcast, “Source Material,” which will detail current events using only user-generated content, such as cellphone, livestream, or CCT footage.
Premiering Oct. 30, the debut installment of the eight-episode first season of “Source Material” covers the experience of passengers and crew members stranded on cruise ships at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Video episodes of the show will stream on YouTube, while audio versions will be available on all podcast platforms; new audio episodes will debut every subsequent Friday, video on Saturdays.
Topics covered in subsequent episodes of “Source Material” include: The June killing of David McAtee during the Black Lives Matter protests in Louisville, Kentucky by national guard soldiers; the Australian wildfires; the riot at Ware State Prison in Georgia over conditions amid the pandemic; the Syrian civil war; and the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting.
“Vice News is famous for our boots-on-the-ground reporting that brings our audience directly into the story,” Jesse Angelo, Vice Media Group president of global news and entertainment, said in a statement. “We are constantly thinking of innovative ways to deliver our journalism and ‘Source Material’ brings the audience straight to the firsthand sources themselves–unfiltered and unvarnished. Cellphone videos, live streams, CCTV, dash-cams, and user-generated content are increasingly part of how we consume the news, and this documentary series shows a new way to tell stories in a world where almost everything is captured on camera.”
Produced entirely using user-generated content without the involvement of Vice News reporters, the video version of “Source Material” is directed by Ian Bell, edited by Alex Megaro, and executive produced by Vivek Kemp, Shawn Killbrew and Courtney Brooks. The podcast is produced by Peter Lang-stanton, Nicole Kelly and Stephanie Brown and executive produced and edited by Kate Osborn with sound design by Kyle Murdock and Steve Bone.