Re/code is now Recode.
This morning, the Silicon Valley scoop factory launched a redesigned website with a new logo and plenty of white space. Style junkies rejoice: That pesky slash is no more.
But’s that’s hardly the biggest change at Recode. Since the site — and its events business — were acquired by Vox Media a year ago, the media startup has been gradually evolving from its roots as a Bay Area-focused outlet to a global chronicle of all things tech.
Now leading this transition is Editor-in-Chief Dan Frommer, who joined Recode from Quartz two months ago at the urging of Silicon Valley scoopmonger Peter Kafka. Frommer, who worked with Kafka at Business Insider when it was still called Silicon Alley Insider, wants to broaden Recode’s horizons to examine each of the various industries being disrupted by Silicon Valley.
“The most interesting stories in business now are the tech stories,” Frommer told Poynter. “Essentially, tech is business now. So as you take a brand like Recode and think about where you can take it and invest in new coverage areas it becomes a very convincing story to say: As technology starts to reinvent the way that various industries are conducted…it makes for a really exciting opportunity for us to add new sections of coverage to the site.”
In an interview, Frommer outlined five ways he plans to change Recode during his tenure:
A global focus
“Recode has its roots as a brand that meant a lot to Silicon Valley and people who worked in the tech industry,” Frommer said. But I think some of the most interesting stories are outside California and the U.S.”
Going short
“One of the initiatives that I’m pushing our journalists to do is write more short posts. We’re creating a new section of the site called BTW, which is basically our home for short-form stories.”
Going long
“I think that one of the things I’m encouraging the team to do is zoom out and think bigger,” Frommer said. “We’re well-known for breaking industry news. I think that we should do a better job of tying those news breaks together and putting them in better context.”
More visuals
“These days, there are lots of visual media that tells a really great story, and there’s no sense to belabor it with thousands of words of content,” Frommer said. “If you’re able to tell an interesting, important, big-picture story in 100 words and a chart, to me that’s perfect. Why would you do it any other way?”
More video
“Many Vox sites have fairly robust video operations,” Frommer said. “We do not. That’s an area that I see us expanding into aggressively and quickly. We have to figure out what our voice and product is in video, but that’s certainly one of my priorities.
