Last night in Brooklyn’s consummate hipster ‘hood of Williamsburg, CNN.com announced partnerships with two rather odd (yet entirely awesome) bedfellows: Vice’s VBS.TV and Sub Pop Records. This media marriage will result in two new web-exclusive video series, “VBS.TV on CNN.com” and “Indie Asia: On Tour with Handsome Furs.”

Although these new partnerships may seem like an unusual move on the part of the news organization — even Vice founder Shane Smith recognizes that: “The ‘Hipsters’ Bible’ hooking up with the World’s News Leader is a bit odd,” he says — it stems from an urge to add more diversity to the site in terms of style and perspective.

If you’re not familiar with VBS.TV, it’s basically a free online content channel that’s part of the Vice empire (which includes the original magazine, a record label and VBS.TV, of which Spike Jonze is the creative director). The brand is known for covering content that fits well within the indie bloodstream, and that’s rather, well, shocking — come on, the mag features a column dedicated entirely to trippin’ and one of its original founders did this (NSFW, dear lord) after mistakenly thinking he’d won Gawker’s Hipster of the Decade.

By the looks of the first episode, “The Vice Guide to Liberia,” the brand has not been slacking on its shock appeal. The spot features Smith trekking through the embattled country, interviewing warlords who admit to horrific deeds such as drinking the blood of innocent children. Shock value aside, these kinds of journalistic endeavors promise to be an interesting and vital addition to CNN.com’s arsenal of news. “The Vice Guide to Liberia” premieres today on CNN.com. Check out a teaser below:

CNN’s partnership with Sub Pop Records — an indie label from Seattle — also marks a unique foray into more offbeat territory. “Indie Asia: On Tour with Handsome Furs” follows the band across the foreign continent as they document their experiences with Flip cams. Personally, we’re intrigued by this unique form of publicity. The Furs and their label are making use of social media to draw attention to their music, and CNN, in turn, is bringing an indie outfit to a mainstream audience. The first episode premieres tomorrow in CNN’s Travel section. Check out a preview below:

Disclosure: Mashable has a syndication partnership with CNN.

Tags: cnn.com, media, music, sub pop, vice, video, web series

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