Quartz makes four hires

Kevin Delaney, the editor in chief of the new usiness news site being launched later this year by Atlantic Media called Quartz, announced Thursday the hiring of four staffers.

S. Mitra Kalita is joining as commentary editor. She will lead the effort to recruit and cultivate agenda-setting writing by leading voices in business, public policy, and academia.

“We’re building a home for bracingly intelligent writing on critical issues in the news by top minds globally,” said Delaney in a statement. “Mitra is an exceptional writer, and a great connector of ideas and people from around the world. She’s the perfect person to lead an innovative, digital approach to commentary for Quartz.”

Kalita comes from The Wall Street Journal, where she most recently served as a senior special writer covering housing and the economy. She joined the paper in 2008 as the deputy global economics editor, where she edited and reported for an award-winning series on the Great Recession.

Veteran foreign correspondent Steve LeVine will be Quartz’s Washington correspondent, writing about the intersection of energy, technology and geopolitics. LeVine comes from Foreign Policy magazine, where he currently writes the influential blog, “The Oil and the Glory.”

Euny Hong has been named the lifestyle editor of Quartz. She will be coming to the New York office from Paris, where, most recently, she was the Web news editor for France 24, France’s official 24-hour news network. Prior to that, she worked for six years as a freelance journalist in New York, Frankfurt, and Berlin, writing more than 200 articles.

Tim Fernholz will join as a reporter, based in Los Angeles. He most recently was the business editor at GOOD and, prior to that, was the lead writer and analyst on budget and tax policy for National Journal.  He was a staff writer for the The American Prospect, covering national politics, the economy, and foreign policy, for three years.

“We are creating a new kind of business news outlet, and look forward to these smart, digitally savvy, globally minded journalists joining our team,” said Delaney.