Updated
Updated · Yahoo Finance · Sep 10
Kara Swisher Says 30 Years of Reporting Led Her to Launch Recode in 2014
Updated
Updated · Yahoo Finance · Sep 10

Kara Swisher Says 30 Years of Reporting Led Her to Launch Recode in 2014

1 articles · Updated · Yahoo Finance · Sep 10

Summary

  • Kara Swisher told Business Insider that workers should leave a job to start a business only after honestly weighing the downside, including finances and children to support.
  • After about 30 years at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, Swisher said she quit because she believed she could build something better and was more comfortable with uncertainty than many peers.
  • In 2014, that bet became Recode, the tech news site she launched after helping build the Journal conference series that preceded the Code Conference.
  • Swisher said going independent requires more than quitting a newsroom or starting a newsletter; founders need a distinctive point of view and an unmet audience need they can uniquely serve.

Insights

Why are top journalists abandoning secure newsrooms to gamble their careers on unpredictable algorithms and independent podcasts?
Can a solo creator truly be independent when their entire media empire relies on tech platforms they do not control?
If elite reporters go solo for personal brands, who is left to fund and defend massive, high-risk investigative journalism?