For many years, Re/code has been an online leader in alternative tech based news. Their leaders include seasoned journalists Walt Mossburg and Kara Swisher. Now they’re just the latest tech entity to be acquired.
Vox Media acquires Re/code under undisclosed financial terms. All we know is that this merger will be dealt in stocks. This deal is expected to give Re/code a better audience. Their audience has dwindled since ties were broken with the Wall Street Journal. This has been happening a lot lately. Digital media has been struggling. Tech conglomerates are searching for digital media outlets to booster their name and profits. In March 2015, Gigacom was forced to shut down, that is, until it was acquired by a new company called Knowingly Corp. Circa is peddling itself to larger social media sites like Twitter. But let’s get back to this Re/code situation. Since the late 2000s, Re/Code has built a popular and respected following among techies high up the ladder, even hosting conferences for Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg and the late Apple founder Steve Jobs. But recently, they’ve lost their Silicon Valley competitive edge. This is where Vox comes in, though Vox didn’t talk about staff changes. Vox Media had 53.2 million new visitors in the US in April alone, and that’s not including regulars. I can see why those numbers attract Mossburg and Swisher.
No doubt about it, this merge will make Re/code a financial winner. But I’m more worried about the employment of Re/code writers. There are no changes that we know of, and I hope it stays that way. We don’t need job casualties because of this. But what about journalistic integrity? I want to believe Re/code will keep reporting their own stories their way. I hope Mossburg and Swisher will insists on this. But with past corporate buyouts, I’ve seen news media abandon their way from original reporting to the reporting the conglomerate wants. Will that happen to Re/code?