Quartz hires two new staff writers

Business news site Quartz announced Tuesday the hiring of William Gavin and Francisco Velasquez as staff writers.

William Gavin

This follows the hiring of two new staff writers in January.

Most recently, Gavin covered business breaking news for The Messenger with a focus on transportation, the automotive industry, and labor issues. He reported on the UAW strikes, the EV transition, and the latest news from the world’s largest car makers. He has also written about federal and state lobbying and campaign finance for OpenSecrets. A Long Island native, Gavin has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University.

Gavin starts Feb. 20.

Francisco Velasquez

Velasquez previously worked as an editor at News 12, covering areas of the Bronx and Brooklyn. He has worked at outlets including Wisconsin Watch, Borderless Magazine, CNBC Make It, Inc. Magazine, CoinDesk, and The Messenger.

An Atlanta native, he got his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his master’s degree in business and economics reporting from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.

Velasquez will start next week.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.