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Walt Mossberg

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Walt Mossberg
Mossberg in 2009
Born (1947-03-27) March 27, 1947 (age 77)
Warwick, Rhode Island, U.S.
Alma materBrandeis University
Columbia University
Occupation(s)Columnist, journalist
Websitewww.theverge.com/users/WaltMossberg/posts

Walter S. Mossberg (born March 27, 1947) is an American retired technology journalist and moderator.

From 1991 through 2013, he was the principal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He also co-founded AllThingsD, Recode and the D and Code Conferences. From 2015 to 2017, Mossberg was Executive Editor of The Verge and Editor-at-Large of Recode, web sites owned by Vox Media. Mossberg wrote a weekly column for both and also had a weekly podcast, Ctrl-Walt-Delete. Mossberg was also co-executive producer of the annual Code Conference. He retired in July 2017.

Dow Jones announced on September 19, 2013, that Mossberg would leave The Wall Street Journal as part of the breakup with AllThingsD by the end of the year.[1] AllThingsD was a technology conference and web site owned by Dow Jones but created and operated by Mossberg and Kara Swisher. Along with other reporters from AllThingsD, Mossberg and Swisher started a new media site called Recode in 2014, which was acquired by Vox Media in 2015.[2]

In April 2017, Mossberg announced his plans to retire.[3][4] He is on the board of The News Literacy Project.

Early life and education

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Mossberg, a native of Warwick, Rhode Island, is a graduate of Pilgrim High School, Brandeis University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Career

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Mossberg was a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal from 1970 until the end of 2013. He was based in the Journal's Washington, D.C., office, where he spent 18 years covering national and international affairs before turning his attention to technology. Mossberg's Personal Technology column appeared every Thursday from 1991 through 2013. He also edited the Digital Solution column each Wednesday (authored by his colleague, Katherine Boehret), and wrote the Mossberg's Mailbox column on Thursdays. He appeared weekly on CNBC, and in web videos, and was on numerous times a guest on the Charlie Rose Show,[5] airing on PBS stations.

In 1999, Mossberg became the first technology writer to receive the Loeb award for Commentary. In 2001, he won the World Technology Award for Media and Journalism and received an honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Rhode Island.[6] Mossberg is widely regarded as one of the most influential writers on information technology. In 2004, in a lengthy profile, Wired called him "The Kingmaker", saying "few reviewers have held so much power to shape an industry's successes and failures."[7] A 2007 profile in the New Yorker was entitled "Everyone Listens to Walter Mossberg" and declared him "someone whose judgment can ratify years of effort or sink the show."[8]

Mossberg (left) with Steve Jobs at All Things Digital 5 in 2007

In 2017, he received the Loeb Award's Lifetime Achievement Award.[9]

In partnership with his fellow Journal columnist Kara Swisher, Mossberg created, produced and hosted the Journal's annual All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, California, in which well-known technology leaders, such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk,[10] appeared on stage without prepared remarks, or slides, and were interviewed by the two columnists.[11] That conference concept continues today in the form of their Code Conference. Mossberg and Swisher also co-edited the All Things Digital web site, which included his columns, her blog and other posts.

On May 30, 2007, Mossberg and Swisher conducted a historic, unrehearsed, joint onstage interview with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.[12] The next month, Mossberg was one of only four journalists provided with advance access to the first iPhone in order to review it.[13]

In September 2013, by mutual agreement, Dow Jones & Co. and Mossberg and Swisher announced they would not renew the contract with AllThingsD, and that Mossberg would be leaving The Wall Street Journal by the end of the year.

On January 2, 2014, Mossberg and Swisher launched Recode, a tech website.[14] The website was acquired by Vox Media in May 2015 in an all-stock deal.[2]

On April 7, 2017, Mossberg announced his planned retirement, which occurred on July 3 of that year. "It just seems like the right time to step away", Mossberg wrote in Recode. "I'm ready for something new."[4] His final column was published on May 25, 2017.[15] His final Code Conference was May 30 – June 1, and his retirement podcast, performed live in New York, was on June 9.

References

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  1. ^ Hagey, Keach; Launder, William (September 19, 2013). "Tech Columnist Walt Mossberg to Leave WSJ". The Wall Street Journal.
  2. ^ a b Ember, Sydney (May 26, 2015). "Vox Media Adds ReCode to Its Stable of Websites". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  3. ^ Mossberg, Walt (April 7, 2017). "Walt Mossberg is retiring in June". The Verge. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Mossberg, Walt (April 7, 2017). "Walt Mossberg Is Retiring in June". Recode. Archived from the original on July 2, 2021.
  5. ^ "Walter Mossberg". Charlie Rose. July 7, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  6. ^ "Walt Mossberg". About Us. All Things D. Archived from the original on January 14, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  7. ^ Deutschman, Alan (May 2004). "The Kingmaker: Walt Mossberg makes or breaks products from his pundit perch at a little rag called The Wall Street Journal". Wired. Retrieved May 8, 2007.
  8. ^ Auletta, Ken (May 14, 2007). "Critical Mass: Everyone listens to Walter Mossberg". The New Yorker. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  9. ^ "2017 Gerald Loeb Award Finalists, Career Achievement Honorees and Date of Awards Banquet in New York City Announced by UCLA Anderson". PR Newswire. UCLA Anderson School of Management. May 18, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  10. ^ Gannes, Liz (May 30, 2013). Tesla CEO and SpaceX Founder Elon Musk: The Full D11 Interview (Video). All Things D (Video interview). Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  11. ^ "D: All Things Digital The Wall Street Journal Executive Conference". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved May 8, 2007.
  12. ^ "Bill Gates and Steve Jobs at D5 (Full Session)". The Wall Street Journal. July 8, 2007. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  13. ^ Pogue, David (June 25, 2017). "The 4 people Steve Jobs handpicked to review the iPhone reflect 10 years later". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  14. ^ "Re/code, a new tech website launched by Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg, is now live". The Next Web. Kaylene Hong. January 2, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  15. ^ Mossberg, Walt (May 25, 2017). "Mossberg: The Disappearing Computer". recode.net. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
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