MTV Banks on Vice Video

MTV has put its hippest foot forward with VBS.tv, the online video channel run by Vice magazine’s editors. The web presence, originally pitched as “‘60 Minutes’ meets ‘Jackass,’” is a toehold in youth web programming, the Times reports. “Our aesthetic is raw,” said a VBS editor. “If they’re hung over, it’s part of the shoot.”

Ever on the forefront of ironic cool and always tackling risqué topics with brusque style, the Vice brand has had free rein online. The channel and the magazine take on serious topics, covering a Colombian date-rape drug, profiling a Hezbollah hero, and following an Iraqi band forced to emigrate to Syria. And VBS is about to hit slightly bigger screens, with its MTV2 premiere slated for Saturday. (More internet stories.)