The way I understand it they are launching their own coin called Vice Media Token. To do so they will be buying Steem and holding it. Steem acts as the reserve currency backing up their token. So that means that Vice.org, the group of websites launching the token will have to buy and hold Steem to do that. They will not be selling Steem on their sites though, instead, they will be selling their new coin, Vice.

From their viewers perspective, they will not know it's backed by Steem. This not only creates a demand for Steem but because the site will have to hold it in reserve it takes Steem out of circulation making it more scarce. More scarcity and more demand usually increases the price of things.

From the perspective of the user of their websites though they will have no idea the VICE coin is backed by Steem.