''Daily Hive'', formerly known as ''Vancity Buzz'', is a Canadian

online newspaper An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newsp ...

based in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

, British Columbia. It began digital publishing in 2008 and became

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

's largest online-only publication by 2016. In September 2022, ZoomerMedia announced a deal to acquire ''Daily Hive'' for $16.4 million.

History

The site began its publishing in 2008 under the name ''Vancity Buzz'' and was founded by Manny Bahia and Karm Sumal. The name was changed to ''Daily Hive'' in 2016 when the company expanded nationally. Concurrently with its rebranding as ''Daily Hive'', the publication expanded to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. In November 2017, ''Daily Hive'' deleted many of their posts on their official Instagram account as a form of viral marketing, inspired by

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...

's similar

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...

earlier in the year. They then posted images of the word "Nude". This stunt caused growth in their social media presence and gained them more followers than before.

ID Agency

In 2018, ''Daily Hive'' launched ID Agency, an in-house influencer marketing agency operating out of their Vancouver office.

Acquisitions

In 2018, ''Daily Hive'' acquired Colony Digital, a full-service creative agency based in Vancouver. In February 2019, ''Daily Hive'' acquired ''Torontoist'', a long-running web publication that formerly offered similar coverage of Toronto. Originally established in 2004 as part of the ''

Gothamist Gothamist LLC is the operator, or in some cases franchisor, of eight city-centric websites that focused on news, events, food, culture, and other local coverage. It was founded in 2003 by Jake Dobkin and Jen Chung. In March 2017, Joe Rickett ...

'' network of city-specific news websites, ''Torontoist'' was a property of St. Joseph Media from 2011 until its acquisition by ''Daily Hive''. It no longer publishes original content as a separate entity from ''Daily Hive''.

Expansion into the United States

In 2019, ''Daily Hive'' made their first international expansion into the US market, opening channels in both Seattle and Portland.

Criticisms and controversies

Prior to its 2016

rebranding Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investo ...

as ''Daily Hive'', the ''Vancity Buzz'' site was the subject of numerous criticisms and controversies. Notable accusations included unethical journalism practices,

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and though ...

, and

fearmongering Fearmongering, or scaremongering, is a form of manipulation that causes fear by using exaggerated rumors of impending danger. Theory According to evolutionary psychology, humans have a strong impulse to pay attention to danger because awareness ...

Brands

* DH News – News * Dished – Food * Urbanized – Real estate, architecture, urban Design, transportation, and urban issues * Venture – Technology and business * Offside – Sports * Listed – Events * Mapped – Travel * Colony Digital – Digital marketing agency * ID Agency – Influencer agency

References

External links

* {{ZoomerMedia 2008 establishments in British Columbia Canadian news websites Newspapers published in Vancouver Newspapers established in 2008