OLD Media Moves

Former Google exec’s daughter starting tech publication

May 6, 2019

Posted by Chris Roush

The daughter of Eric Schmidt, the former Google and Alphabet CEO, is starting a new publication about the effects of technology on the non-Western world, reports Joseph Bernstein of BuzzFeed News.

Bernstein writes, “The 32-year-old [Sophie] Schmidt plans to self-fund the journalism nonprofit initially, and hopes to launch it by the end of the year, according to a source familiar with the effort.

“The publication, which does not yet have a name or any full-time staffers aside from Schmidt, will be ‘focused on exploring the surprising and complex effects of technology internationally, specifically outside the US and Europe,’ the source wrote in an email to BuzzFeed News. ‘We’re most curious about human impact: social, cultural and political phenomena driven by the interaction between new tech and different cultures, institutions and norms abroad.’

“News of Schmidt’s media startup comes just days after the stunning implosion of the Markup, a much-anticipated data journalism startup nonprofit also funded by a wealthy tech executive, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark.

“According to the source, though the new outlet is still in the planning stages, Schmidt has been developing the idea for a year, during which time she’s met with leaders at the New York Times, ProPublica, Vanity Fair, Wired, the Atlantic, the Information, and others.”

Read more here.

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