TechCrunch hires hardware editor, privacy reporter

Tech news site TechCrunch has hired a new hardware editor and a privacy and policy reporter.

Matthew Panzarino writes, “First up, Brian Heater has worked at a number of tech pubs, including PCMag, Laptop and Engadget, where he served as the Director of Media. Most recently, he was the Managing Editor of TechTimes.com. His writing has appeared in Spin, Wired, Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, The Onion, Boing Boing, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Beast and various other publications. He hosts the weekly Boing Boing interview podcast RiYL, has appeared as a regular NPR contributor, won a pair of Webbys, and shares his Queens apartment with a rabbit named Lucy.

“Brian is joining TechCrunch as our Hardware Editor, guiding our overall hardware coverage that includes consumer electronics and gadgets. But most importantly for us, he’ll be on the lookout for emerging hardware technologies that will resolve themselves into household names and cultural touchstones as they are developed by young companies and adopted by the masses.

“Next up, Kate Conger is sharp writer who has covered a variety of topics like diversity,security and more. She’s joining TC as our full-time security, privacy and policy writer — and indeed is already at work. Everything from cyber security to encryption to the way that the cogs of political machinery link up to those of tech.

“‘I started out writing for the SF Weekly and still have a bit of a soft spot for alt-weeklies — there aren’t many other outlets that will let you write back-to-back features about nail polish and police misconduct,’ says Kate. ‘Since then, I’ve been the online editor at the SF Examiner and the managing editor of Ratter. I’ve also written about politics and security for Daily Dot and Motherboard, and contributed to San Francisco Magazine and PAPER.’

“She’s coming to us after a stint doing some copywriting for Google and freelancing for a variety of publications. Kate will be writing about a variety of things including ‘weird internet,” but with a focus on security and privacy with a mix of policy thrown in for good measure.”