Casey Newton
{{Short description|American technology journalist}}
{{For|the fictional character|Tomorrowland (film)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Use American English|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name =
| image = Casey Newton from 2021 interview.png
| alt = Casey Newton speaks in a black hoodie
| caption = Newton in 2021
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1980|06|19}}
| birth_place = La Habra, California{{Cite podcast |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/08/podcasts/hard-fork-burning-man-musk-adl.html |title=Escape From Burning Man + Musk vs. the A.D.L. + Listener Questions |newspaper=The New York Times |last1=Roose |first1=Kevin |last2=Newton |first2=Casey |date=September 8, 2023 |access-date=September 9, 2023 |quote=I don’t know what prep school you went to, but on the mean streets of La Habra, California, they offered Spanish and French.}}
| education = B.S.J., Northwestern University
| occupation = Journalist
| website = {{URL|http://cnewton.org/}}
}}
Casey Newton (born June 19, 1980) is an American technology journalist, a former senior editor at The Verge, and the founder of, and writer for, the Platformer newsletter.
Career
Newton had been covering the Arizona State Legislature for The Arizona Republic, with an interest in technology as a hobby. Kristen Go, a former coworker at The Arizona Republic, invited him to work at the San Francisco Chronicle to cover tech companies and new technology.{{Cite news |last=Goodykoontz |first=Bill |date=March 20, 2022 |title=How a former Arizona Reporter Launched Silicon Valley's Most Coveted Newsletter |work=The Arizona Republic |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/media/2022/03/20/platformer-how-casey-newton-went-local-arizona-news-tech-guru/7097125001/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=November 18, 2022}} Later, he was a blogger and senior writer for CNET{{Cite book |last=Diamond |first=Stephanie |title=The Visual Marketing Revolution |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2013 |isbn=9780133259674 |pages=288 |author-link=Stephanie Diamond}} until 2013. Afterward, between 2013 and 2020, he covered Silicon Valley at The Verge{{Cite news |last=Tracy |first=Marc |author-link=Marc Tracy |date=September 23, 2020 |title=Journalists Are Leaving the Noisy Internet for Your Email Inbox |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/business/media/substack-newsletters-journalists.html |access-date=November 17, 2022}} and became a senior editor.{{Cite web |last=Ingram |first=Mathew |date=August 14, 2019 |title=Casey Newton on dismantling the platforms and taking Facebook's cash |url=https://www.cjr.org/the_new_gatekeepers/casey-newton-interview.php |access-date=November 17, 2022 |website=Columbia Journalism Review}} During his time at The Verge, he wrote a daily newsletter called The Interface.{{Cite news |last=Isaac |first=Mike |date=March 19, 2019 |title=The New Social Network That Isn't New at All |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/technology/new-social-network-email-newsletter.html |access-date=November 17, 2022}}{{Cite web |date=October 15, 2020 |title='Something really important is happening': Casey Newton on going solo with a paid newsletter |url=https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/something-really-important-is-happening-casey-newton-on-going-solo-with-a-paid-newsletter/ |access-date=November 17, 2022 |website=What’s New in Publishing {{!}} Digital Publishing News}} His reporting on the effects of content moderation on workers (resulting in PTSD{{Cite book |last=McClennan |first=Mark W. |title=Ethical Voices |publisher=Business Expert Press |isbn=9781637424193 |chapter=Competition|date=16 November 2022 }}) has led to a contracting company cutting ties with Facebook.{{Cite book |last=Hertz |first=Noreena |title=The Lonely Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jXISEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA308 |publisher=Crown |year=2021 |isbn=9780593135839 |pages=308 |author-link=Noreena Hertz}}
''Platformer''
In 2020, he left to publish his own newsletter, Platformer, on Substack.{{Cite magazine |last=Wiener |first=Anna |date=December 28, 2020 |title=Is Substack the Media Future We Want? |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/01/04/is-substack-the-media-future-we-want |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=November 18, 2022}}{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Ben |author-link=Ben Smith (journalist) |date=April 11, 2021 |title=Why We're Freaking Out About Substack |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/11/business/media/substack-newsletter-competition.html |access-date=November 17, 2022}} with the paid subscription costing {{US$|10}} per month. Substack incentivized authors with advances, which Newton turned down, but accepted healthcare stipends. {{As of|2024|January}}, Platformer had 170,000 subscribers to the free edition.{{Cite news |last1=Lorenz |first1=Taylor |last2=Oremus |first2=Will |date=January 12, 2024 |title=Substack's woes deepen as tech blog leaves over Nazi content |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/01/11/substack-platformer-nazis/ |access-date=January 12, 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}} In January 2024, Newton decided to move Platformer off Substack to Ghost, in response to Substack's policies and handling of pro-Nazi publications on its platform.{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=January 11, 2024 |title=Substack keeps the Nazis, loses Platformer |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/11/24035338/substack-nazis-platformer-newsletter-switch-to-ghost |access-date=January 12, 2024 |website=The Verge}}
''Hard Fork''
In late 2022, he began a weekly technology news podcast for the New York Times, called Hard Fork, co-hosting with Kevin Roose.{{Cite news |last1=Linder |first1=Emmett |last2=Diamond |first2=Sarah |date=October 28, 2022 |title=A Podcast for an Ever-Changing Tech Industry |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/28/insider/hard-fork-podcast-tech-industry.html |access-date=November 17, 2022}} Roose, in 2021, praised Newton with having "opinions [that] hold sway among social media executives".{{Cite news |last=Roose |first=Kevin |author-link=Kevin Roose |date=January 7, 2021 |title=The President Is Losing His Platforms |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/technology/trump-social-media.html |access-date=November 17, 2022}}
Personal life
Newton was born on June 19, 1980, and grew up in La Habra, California.{{Cite web |title=Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) |url=https://twitter.com/caseynewton |access-date=November 17, 2022 |website=Twitter}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=1998-06-03 |title=Sonora High |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jun-03-ss-56682-story.html |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} He attended Sonora High School, where he served as a student board member and president of the debate club. He graduated from Northwestern University in 2002 with a Bachelor of Journalism.{{Cite web |last=Cramer |first=Jude |date=October 26, 2020 |title=Q&A with Casey Newton (BSJ02), Founder of Platformer |url=https://magazine.medill.northwestern.edu/2020/qa-with-casey-newton-bsj02-founder-of-platformer/ |access-date=November 17, 2022 |website=Northwestern Alumni Magazine |language=en-US}}
He is gay{{Cite tweet|number=1593324501541888000|user=CaseyNewton|title=Ugh now I have to go back to telling people I'm gay the old fashioned way (changing my profile pic to the NOH8 one from 2009)|author=Casey Newton|date=November 17, 2022|access-date=November 17, 2022}} and lives in San Francisco.
References
External links
- {{Official website}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Casey}}
Category:American male journalists
Category:American technology journalists
Category:American LGBTQ journalists
Category:Medill School of Journalism alumni