Recode’s Ken Li talks tech news coverage

Ken Li is the editor in chief of Re/code, a tech news site started in early 2014 by former Wall Street Journal reporters Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher.

Li has covered the intersection of technology and media businesses since 1997, watching the boom, bust and the return of innovation from New York. He has worked as a reporter and editor at news organizations including Reuters, the Financial Times, The Industry Standard, TheStreet.com and the New York Daily News. As a reporter for Reuters, Ken co-founded the “MediaFile” blog.

Before joining Recode, he was global editor of Reuters.com in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, China and India and led content strategy projects for the international news agency.

In a past life, Li wrote a story for Vibe magazine that was the inspiration for “The Fast and the Furious” movies franchise. He graduated from New York University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Re/code was acquired a year ago by Vox Media. Li spoke by email with Talking Biz News about the tech news site and its ownership by Vox Media. What follows is an edited transcript.

What made you decide to join Re/code?

The opportunity to launch something new with the smartest, most aggressive journalists in the tech biz was just too enticing to pass up. Between Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, they literally invented and shaped tech journalism and analysis.

How is it different than working at traditional media operations that you previously worked at?

The values and discipline are similar. Like any other top notch shop, we pick up the goddamn phone and liquor up sources (or DM the millennials). We do a lot of basic shoe leather reporting.

Unlike traditional media operations, we don’t spend a lot of time adhering to form and tend to play around with format and style depending on the subject matter. What we try not to do is regurgitate the same news story everywhere.

Each of our reporters have their own voices and there isn’t really a house style. Nobody writes like Kara Swisher or Peter Kafka. But in aggregate, there is deep analysis with a touch of mischief.

So, what’s Re/code doing in covering tech news that makes it stand apart from its competitors?

We don’t do much aggregation. We spend more time crafting deeply reported perspective. We pick up the phone and call someone. There’s not as much of that these days. Also, we like to have fun with our subjects. Nobody covers Yahoo like this or this.

Speaking of, who do you see as your competitors, and why?

Who isn’t these days? Even that guy at the New York Times who tweets out breaking news. (Hi Mike!)

I get everything from a feed or stream of some sort. Some guy who hasn’t graduated from college is the best damn Apple reporter in the world. I (used to) get my local (weird) news from Gawker’s Facebook updates. My rivals tell me what they’ve broken. Nobody has a monopoly on scoops. We try to cut through that by being the smartest person in the room.

How big is Re/code’s editorial operation, and where would you like to grow?

We’re about seven bylines after being acquired by Vox Media. Our reviews team moved over to The Verge. We’re in the market looking for a few more reporters and an engagement editor. We haven’t put a number on staffing size.

How did the acquisition of Re/code by Vox change what the site does?

It has not had an immediate impact on day to day operations but that will change for the better. We’re in the process of ramping onto the tech platform that runs all the other sites and that is expected to have a demonstrable change to how we do things here.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say there’s a template, but there is a best practices guidebook that has powered the success of the other Vox Media properties. Looking forward to that in the first half of the year.

Has the site continued to see growth in visits and page views since then?

We’ve had some, albeit subtle growth, despite more than halving the editorial staff. It’s mostly on the back of the quality of the scoops and analysis. We’re expecting to do better with better technology and practices.

What is your typical day like?

There is no typical day.

How often and why do you travel between San Francisco and New York?

I’m in San Francisco for a week every month at a minimum.

How many times have you seen the “Fast and Furious” movies?

I think I’ve watched each of them, except the second one, at least once and the third one like dozens of times. I can’t seem to get myself to watch the first one at all after the screening.