Mercury News names two reporters to be columnists

The San Jose Mercury News has named reporters Dean Takahashi and Michelle Quinn as their newest business columnists, according to a short item in Monday’s paper.

The item stated, “By naming these two veteran Mercury News staff writers as columnists, we add unique and insightful coverage of Silicon Valley.

“Takahashi’s ‘Tech Talk’ will appear Mondays and Thursdays, providing useful and informative commentary and reporting. On Mondays, he’ll review tech products and services. On Thursdays, he’ll comment on general tech subjects. His column starts today in Tech Monday.

“Quinn’s ‘Valley Voice,’ running Sundays and Wednesdays, will offer a lively, engaging take on ideas, people, companies and trends in the valley. Look for Her column to debut Wednesday in the Business section.”

Read more here. Takahashi has been a business journalist for 17 years, having written for the Wall Street Journal, Red Herring Magazine, Los Angeles Times, The Orange County Register, and Dallas Times Herald, and has appeared on CNN and CNBC. As a die-hard gamer, he is author of the book Opening the Xbox: Inside Microsoft’s Plan to Unleash an Entertainment Revolution.

Both Takahashi and Quinn were finalists for a Loeb Award this year for the paper’s coverage of ousted Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Columnist Mike Langberg left the paper in October.