Variety, owned by Penske Media Corporation, announced today its first-ever editorial hire based in Silicon Valley, a recognition of the ever-increasing importance of technology in the entertainment business.
Janko Roettgers, who previously served as senior writer at technology publication GigaOm, is joining Variety as senior Silicon Valley correspondent. The new post marks an editorial expansion of the brand beyond its Los Angeles and New York newsrooms, as well as bureaus throughout Europe and Asia.
“Janko Roettgers has the expertise and experience to make a valuable contribution to our team,” said Andrew Wallenstein, co-editor-in-chief, Variety. “Variety has moved aggressively in recent years to cover Silicon Valley’s impact on Hollywood, which makes having a respected journalist like Janko on the ground in the technology capital of the world a natural next step for us.”
Roettgers will be tasked with covering the biggest technology companies in the world, including Google, Apple, Facebook and Twitter. In addition, he will deepen Variety’s reporting on key areas including social media, streaming music, virtual reality and over-the-top TV. Beginning May 18, he will report to Wallenstein and work closely with Todd Spangler, New York digital editor.
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Roettgers has been covering the intersection of media and technology for over 15 years. He spent more than five years at Gigaom, covering digital media with a focus on online video services, online music and the connected living room.
Previously, he worked as a freelance correspondent for a wide variety of European print and online publications as well as radio broadcasters, including heise.de, Frankfurter Rundschau, Berliner Zeitung, Zeit.de, ORF and Deutschlandradio. He is also the author of a number of books on subjects like the online music revolution, Internet subcultures and cord cutting.
Roettgers lives with his wife and two children in Oakland, California.
