''Recode'' (stylized as recode; formerly ''Re/code'')
was a technology news website that focused on the business of
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...
.
Walt Mossberg and
Kara Swisher founded it in January 2014, after they left
Dow Jones and the similar website they had previously co-founded, ''
All Things Digital''.
Vox Media
Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company founded in Washington, D.C. with operational headquarters in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by CEO Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''S ...
acquired ''Recode'' in May 2015 and, in May 2019, the ''Recode'' website was integrated into ''
Vox''. On March 6, 2023, Vox media announced that in order to make the various Vox sub brands less confusing to its readers, it was retiring Recode brand but would continue its mission to explain complex issues around technology to its readers under the unified Vox brand.
History
In September 2013, technology journalists
Walt Mossberg and
Kara Swisher left ''
All Things Digital'', the technology news site they had founded and developed for
Dow Jones and
News Corp
The second and current incarnation of News Corporation, doing business as News Corp, is an American mass media and publishing company headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company was formed on ...
. Mossberg left ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' at the end of the year, leaving behind a popular, weekly technology
column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...
.
The two launched their new, independent technology news website, ''Recode'', on January 2, 2014. Its holding company, Revere Digital, received minority investments from
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...
and
Terry Semel's Windsor Media.
The total investment was estimated between and 15 million. Mossberg and Swisher held the company's majority stake and noted its comfortable financial stance.
''Recode'' also provided breaking technology coverage for NBCUniversal, and received video resources and exposure in return via a formal partnership. Mossberg saw the investment as an opportunity to implement new ways of covering the technology field, and planned to add six employees on technology policy and mobile beats. The CNBC partnership also explored new advertising efforts and shared office space.
At launch, the 23-person team included all former members of ''All Things Digital''. The staff also received equity in the company.
Mossberg and Swisher planned to continue their prominent, annual ''All Things Digital'' conference, which they renamed the "Code" conference and scheduled for the same time and location: late May at Terranea Resort in
Rancho Palos Verdes, California. ''Recode'' also kept plans to continue their separate mobile and media conferences. CNBC became a partner in these conferences.
A part-time team of 12 employees runs the conferences.
The site developed a reputation for breaking tech industry news but ultimately did not reach the level of popularity it expected, with just 1.5 million regular monthly visitors.
Vox Media
Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company founded in Washington, D.C. with operational headquarters in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by CEO Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''S ...
acquired the website in May 2015 in a move that ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' described as a reflection of tumult in online
technology journalism
Technology journalism is the genre of Journalism, reporting that concerns the development, marketing, and application of technology. The field covers a wide variety of topics, including communications, artificial intelligence, the Internet, soci ...
.
Vox purchased all of the company's stock, but the details of the transaction were not released. At the time of the acquisition, ''Recode'' had 44 employees and three additional employees by contract. They were expected to join Vox. Mossberg and Swisher planned to stay with the website. The two were impressed with Vox Media's audience reach. Vox's technology news website, ''
The Verge
''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...
'', had eight times the traffic, in comparison. The scopes of the two sites were not expected to overlap with ''Recode'' emphasis on technology industry business and ''The Verge'' on "being a new kind of culture publication".
An internal study found a three percent overlap in content between the two sites.
Recode started publishing a podcast in July 2015 called ''Recode Decode''. The podcast won "Tech Podcast of the Year" as well as "Podcast of the Year" at the 2019 ''
Adweek'' Podcast Awards.
On May 8, 2016, Recode relaunched with a new design under editor-in-chief Dan Frommer.
In May 2019, Recode was integrated into Vox Media's flagship website, ''
Vox'', becoming the column ''Recode by Vox''.
Content
As continued from ''All Things Digital'',
''Recode'' focuses on technology and digital media news, particularly pertaining to the business of
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...
.
The site also reviews new enterprises, and consumer hardware and software, and conducts original reports.
References
External links
*
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2014 establishments in California
2023 disestablishments in California
American technology news websites
Computing websites
Internet properties established in 2014
Internet properties disestablished in 2019
Internet properties disestablished in 2023
Vox Media