Tag Archives: Technology coverage
New York state paper expands biz coverage
by Chris Roush
The Albany Times-Union has redesigned its paper and unveiled the changes on Tuesday. Those changes included an expanded business section.
Here is what editor Rex Smith told Talking Biz News in an email:
We have had a stand-alone Business section five days a week (except Monday and Saturday) for some time, but now we’re moving to six days a week – that is, omitting only Monday, when our print edition is very small. We are adding a bit of space to give us more room for business coverage on Thursdays and Sundays, which are the two largest days of print circulation, and on Tuesdays, when we’re particularly augmenting our coverage of technology. The latter issue focus matches an online issue focus on technology coverage on www.timesunion.com.
In particular, we think this additional coverage is necessary in our market because of the growth of the high-tech sector in New York’s Capital Region. A combination of public and private investments have made this a growing center of the nanotechnology industry, with both cutting-edge research (based at SUNY’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering) and manufacturing (at Global Foundries’ chip manufacturing plant in Saratoga County). We need to speak to this vital segment of our market with coverage that reflects what’s going on there and that answers the appetite for information of the players in the nanoscale environment.
“Bloomberg West” show doubling its time
by Chris Roush
The “Bloomberg West” show on Bloomberg Television is expanding to two hours daily, reports Quentin Hardy of the New York Times.
Hardy writes, “Along with the existing afternoon program, Bloomberg West will present another hour of tech news at 10 a.m. Pacific time.
“‘We see a real opportunity,’ said Andrew Morse, head of Bloomberg Television in the United States.
“‘The television world is flooded with mediocre content — this extra hour is more of a place for big names in the Valley to come on and talk, and to dig deeper into what the news means,’ he said, speaking of Silicon Valley.
“Officials from Bloomberg would not provide specifics about the profitability of the show, which is mostly filmed at its news offices in San Francisco. For several months, Bloomberg has been the leading source of online business videos, considered valuable content.
“Bloomberg has also been seeking ways to make video news that works across a number of outlets, including television, tablets and smartphones. It will need more production people, and will concentrate on creating an editorial process that can efficiently produce content from the same interviews and stories for different outlets.”
Read more here.
Forbes tech journalist leaving for PR job
by Chris Roush
Eric Savitz, who covers the tech industry for Forbes and who has been in journalism for nearly three decades, has resigned to accept a position in public relations.
On his Facebook page, Savitz writes, “I’m leaving Forbes to join the strategic communications firm Brunswick Group as a partner in the San Francisco office. While sad to leave behind a 29-year career in journalism, I am totally excited about this new chapter in my life.”
Savitz is the San Francisco bureau chief of Forbes, with the responsibility of leading editorial operations for the San Francisco office, while writing regularly for the Forbes web site and magazine. Eric joined Forbes from Barron’s, where he covered technology form the Palo Alto bureau since 2001.
He previously worked at Barron’s and Dow Jones from 1988-1998. Savitz also wrote the monthly Tech File column for Smart Money magazine form 2004-2006. At Barron’s, he launched Tech Trader Daily, a popular blog providing news, analysis and insights on technology investing, in 2005. He also took over the weekly Technology Trader column in 2006, while continuing to write his own blog.
Savitz has served as a copy editor at Dow Jones News Service, as well as a reporter for Dow Jones Professional Investor Report. From 1998-2001, between stints at Dow Jones, he served as executive editor of The Industry Standard, a San Francisco-based magazine covering the Internet economy.
Tech site ZDNet is cutting bloggers
by Chris Roush
Business technology news site ZDNet has cut five bloggers from its staff in the past few weeks as it continues to realign its organization into a global one, reports Sean Ludwig of VentureBeat.com
Ludwig writes, “ZDNet has a long history of writing about the technology industry, and CNET acquired it for $1.6 billion in July 2000. In 2003, ZDNet refocused to more closely cover business technology. In May 2008, CBS Interactive purchased CNET, and since that time, ZDNet has existed as a combination of technology blog network and news outlet.
“In July, ZDNet decided to combine all of its international sites into one editorial team (and one budget) and since that time, it has been focused on expanding into a global network. ZDNet currently has more than 80 bloggers contracted for its blog network and 40 full-time ZDNet staffers.
“But with that shift comes cuts to its U.S. operations, and several of its bloggers have penned farewell posts lately. Today, Joel Evans — the co-founder of Geek.com and a long-time gadget writer at ZDNet — said his goodbye.
“‘Today is my last day writing for ZDNet,’ Evans wrote. ‘I wanted to write a personal thank you to you, the readers, and to my coauthor, Matt Miller, and of course the fine folks at ZDNet, including my editor, David Grober. ZDNet has given me a place to call home, where I could write about anything I wanted, anytime I wanted.’”
Yahoo News hires new technology columnist
by Chris Roush
Rob Walker will join Yahoo News as a columnist writing regularly about technology and digital culture, it was announced Friday.
His work will appear on the recently expanded and redesigned technology section of Yahoo News, which provides daily coverage of new innovations, trends and breaking news.
Walker has written about technology, business and culture for a variety of publications, such as The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The New Republic, Fast Company and Wired, as well as the public radio program Marketplace. From 2004 to 2011, he wrote the Consumed column for The New York Times Magazine, addressing consumer culture, design and marketing.
His most recent book, co-edited with Joshua Glenn, is the collection “Significant Objects: 100 Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things” (Fantagraphics: 2012). He is also the author of “Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are” (Random House: 2008) and “Letters From New Orleans” (Garrett County Press: 2005). He is a contributor to Design Observer.
Previously, Walker created the Ad Report Card column for Slate, and has worked as an editor for The Times Magazine, Money, Fortune, The American Lawyer, and others. He is a founding collaborator of Unconsumption, a “must-read Tumblr,” according to Time, that explores creative reuse and mindful consumer behavior.
Wired hires Gizmodo editor Brown
by Chris Roush
Joe Brown, the editor of tech news site Gizmodo, is leaving to become Wired magazine’s New York editor.
Peter Kafka of All Things D writes, “Brown will be Wired’s ‘New York editor,’ a new role that will have him weighing in on the brand’s magazine, tablet edition and website. It’s his second time at Wired, where he had previously worked as a deputy to then-gadget-boss Mark McClusky. McClusky now runs the company’s website, under new editor in chief Scott Dadich.
“Gawker Media owner Nick Denton hasn’t named a replacement for Brown, who ran the site for the last two years; veteran Gizmodo editor Joel Johnson will lead a search for a new editor. ‘We’re looking for someone with design background,’ Denton says.
“This one seems like an amicable Denton/editor breakup. Here’s Brown’s take, delivered via IM (he’s still a Gawker employee, after all): ‘I’ve had an amazing few years at Gizmodo — the team here is among the best in any business, and I love them like family. But I am pumped about going home to Wired. With Scott and the team he’s put in place, it’s like we’re getting the band back together.’ [UPDATE: And here's more from Brown, who is also an extremely patient Pai gow poker tutor.]“
Read more here.
ACBJ is rolling out TechFlash name across company
by Chris Roush
TechFlash, a tech news site started by two business reporters at the Puget Sound Business Journal in 2008, is now a brand name rolling out across the American City Business Journals chain.
Cromwell Scubarth, who covers technology for the sister paper Silicon Valley Business Journal, writes, “Our parent company, American City Business Journals, is rolling the TechFlash brand out around the country. Startup Now is a natural fit.
“Look for the same features we have delivered in the first month of Startup Now, along with top stories from affiliated publications in Boston, Austin, New York and elsewhere.
“Same great stories. New name. See for yourself on Monday.”
Read more here.
Charlotte-based ACBJ rolled the TechFlash site back into the Puget Sound Business Journal last year after the two journalists who started it left in 2011.
The best Apple reporter is 19 years old
by Chris Roush
Jay Yarow of Business Insider writes about Mark Gurman, a 19-year-old Michigan freshman who covers Apple for 9to5Mac.com.
Yarow writes, “This wasn’t the first time Gurman beat his better funded, more established colleagues. He also broke the news of Siri getting baked into the iPhone, he was one of the first people with iPhone 5 casings, had an early look at Apple’s Maps, and had the inside story of what Tim Cook told Apple’s employees in a recent all-hands meeting, just to name a few of his big stories.
“A reporter breaking news isn’t particularly newsworthy in and of itself. For a lot of reporters, it’s part of the job description.
“What makes Gurman unique is that he’s a 19-year-old freshman at Michigan, currently studying a little bit of everything — economics, communications, calculus, etc. He tells us that he’s in the process of applying to attend its business school next year.
“Gurman has no formal journalism training. He learned on the job, which he started doing when he was still in high school. Odds are he’s not going to be a journalist when he’s done with school, though he told us, ‘I think no matter what I do, I will always have journalism with me at least as a hobby.”
Read more here.
AllThingsD considers split from News Corp.
by Chris Roush
AllThingsD, the widely read technology blog run by Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg, has begun discussions with owner News Corp about extending or ending their partnership, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.
Peter Lauria and Nadia Damouni write, “According to these sources, AllThingsD’s contract with News Corp expires at the end of the year. One of the sources said Swisher and Mossberg have to deliver a business plan by next week to Robert Thomson, the former Wall Street Journal managing editor who will helm News Corp’s publishing unit as CEO after it is spun off.
“The fact that AllThingsD’s contract is up this year is well known, and sources said the website is receiving a lot of ‘inbound interest’ from potential buyers parallel to its talks with News Corp.
“Among the names mentioned as having reached out to AllThingsD were Conde Nast, where Swisher recently signed to work as a contributing writer for Vanity Fair, and Hearst.
“Sources also speculated that former Yahoo and News Corp executive Ross Levinsohn might be looking at the website given his new role as Chief Executive of Guggenheim Digital Media, which comes complete with “significant capital to acquire and invest in new media companies.” The private equity shop already owns Billboard, Hollywood Reporter, and Adweek.”
Read more here.
AOL confirms acquisition of tech site gdgt
by Chris Roush
Alexia Tsotsis and Ingrid Lunden of TechCrunch report that AOL has acquired tech news site gdgt for an undisclosed amount.
Tsotsis and Lunden write, “Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but we have heard that the deal was in the high seven figures, and that there was another — higher — offer from another company but that gdgt’s co-founders, Ryan Block and Peter Rojas, went with AOL because it was a better fit.
“It seems poetic that future of a company so deeply embedded in the Internet’s past would hinge upon amassing properties that so vehemently chronicle its future. The deal will see Ryan Block take on a bigger role at AOL, where we have heard from sources that he will become head of product for AOL Tech Media, reporting to Jay Kirsch, and taking some of the learnings, technology and sensibility that he and Rojas have brought to gdgt and applying it across AOL’s portfolio of tech sites. In addition to TechCrunch, those sites include Engadget (which Rojas founded and Block used to edit), TUAW and Joystiq. In other words, the acquisition will give gdgt much greater scale for its product.
“With AOL’s tech portfolio heavy on blogs and news, gdgt will be bringing complementary content in the form of a huge database of gadget information, created with the aim of ‘improving the buying experience,’ in the words of Block.
“The move lets the two come full-circle and, for those who ever wondered, provides more color on why they left in the first place. ‘We didn’t leave Engadget (or AOL) because we were unhappy, we left to do gdgt because at the time it was tough to build something that was clearly not editorial,’ Block told me. ‘That’s obviously changed, and we’re excited to be able to continue to invest in and grow gdgt, while also bringing a lot of the stuff we’ve built to the rest of AOL Tech.’”
Read more here.
