{{short description|American business news organization}} {{use American English|date=January 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Italic title}} {{Infobox website | logo = Quartz (publication) logo.svg | screenshot = | collapsible = | collapsetext = | caption = | url = {{official URL}} | commercial = Yes | type = | registration = | language = English | num_users = | content_license = | programming_language = | owner = Redbrick | author = | editor = | launch_date = {{Start date and age|2012|9|24}} | revenue = {{decrease}} $26.9 million (2019)<ref name=":0" /> | net_income = -$18.4 million (2019)<ref name=":0" /> | name = Quartz | logocaption = | key_people = {{ubl|Jay Lauf|Zach Seward|Kate Weber}} | current_status = | footnotes = }} '''''Quartz'''''<ref name=QZboughtByGeeOhMediaNYT2022>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/28/business/media/quartz-sale.html|title=G/O Media Buys Business Site Quartz|quote=because of its high-quality global business journalism.|author=Benjamin Mullin|author2=Katie Robertson|date=April 28, 2022|access-date=January 20, 2023|archive-date=January 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120091502/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/28/business/media/quartz-sale.html|url-status=live}}</ref> is an American English language news website owned by Redbrick, a Canadian software firm.
Focused on international business news, it was founded in 2012 by Atlantic Media in New York City as a "digitally native news outlet for business people in the new global economy".<ref name="auto1">{{cite news |last=Sonderman |first=Jeff |date=September 17, 2012 |title=5 things journalists should know about ''Quartz'', Atlantic Media's business news startup |work=Poynter |url=http://www.poynter.org/2012/5-things-journalists-should-know-about-quartz-atlantic-medias-business-news-startup/188712 |url-status=live |access-date=August 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811221851/http://www.poynter.org/2012/5-things-journalists-should-know-about-quartz-atlantic-medias-business-news-startup/188712/ |archive-date=August 11, 2017}}</ref> ''Quartz'' implemented a paywall from 2019 to 2022.<ref name=PaywallORnotNLab2019/><ref name=QZdropsPaywall2022NYT>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/14/business/media/quartz-paywall.html|title=Quartz, the Business News Site, Drops Its Paywall|author=Katie Robertson|date=April 14, 2022|access-date=January 20, 2023|archive-date=January 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120194644/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/14/business/media/quartz-paywall.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
==History== On September 24, 2012, ''Quartz'' launched its website,<ref name=QZboughtByGeeOhMediaNYT2022/> designed to deliver content primarily to mobile and tablet users. Its founding team members were from news organizations including Bloomberg, ''The Economist'', ''The New York Times'', and ''The Wall Street Journal''.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Atlantic Launches Mobile-First Business Publication|url=https://mashable.com/2012/09/24/quartz-the-atlantic/?europe=true&#tBhK1uuCOPqb|access-date=May 28, 2018|work=Mashable|date=September 24, 2012|archive-date=May 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529130330/https://mashable.com/2012/09/24/quartz-the-atlantic/?europe=true&#tBhK1uuCOPqb|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Atlantic Media business website, Quartz, staffs up and strategizes|url=https://www.politico.com/media/story/2012/05/atlantic-media-business-website-quartz-staffs-up-and-strategizes-000524/|access-date=May 28, 2018|work=Politico|date=May 28, 2012|archive-date=May 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529130334/https://www.politico.com/media/story/2012/05/atlantic-media-business-website-quartz-staffs-up-and-strategizes-000524|url-status=live}}</ref>
The publication was initially led by Kevin Delaney, a former managing director of ''WSJ.com'', Zach Seward, a former ''WSJ'' social media editor, and Gideon Lichfield, a global news editor from ''The Economist'', among other editors.<ref name="auto1" />
With its main office in New York, it also has correspondents and staff reporters based in Hong Kong, India, London, Los Angeles, Thailand, Washington DC, and elsewhere.<ref name="auto2" /> According to its website, ''Quartz'''s team reports in 115 countries and speaks 19 languages.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web |title=Welcome to Quartz |url=https://qz.com/about/welcome-to-quartz/ |website=Quartz |access-date=November 4, 2015 |language=en-US |archive-date=November 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151102191448/http://qz.com/about/welcome-to-quartz/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2015, a year after expanding into India and launching ''Quartz India'', it launched the Africa-focused ''Quartz Africa''<ref name="africa"/><ref name="auto3">{{cite web |title=Africa rising: Why and how Quartz, GE (Media) want in |url=http://www.fipp.com/news/features/africa-rising-why-and-how-quartz-ge-want-in |website=fipp.com |date=March 13, 2015 |access-date=November 4, 2015 |archive-date=July 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150718054902/http://www.fipp.com/news/features/africa-rising-why-and-how-quartz-ge-want-in |url-status=live }}</ref> and the chart-building platform Atlas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ijnet.org/en/blog/quartzs-atlas-becomes-open-platform-building-charts-data-visualizations|title=Quartz's Atlas becomes open platform for building charts, data visualizations|website=ijnet.org|access-date=October 25, 2017|archive-date=October 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026110940/https://ijnet.org/en/blog/quartzs-atlas-becomes-open-platform-building-charts-data-visualizations|url-status=live}}</ref> Meanwhile, it launched publications specifically for Hong Kong, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates.<ref name="africa">{{Cite news |last=Jackson |first=Jasper |date=November 3, 2015 |title=Quartz Africa site to launch in June |language=en-GB |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/11/quartz-africa-launch-june-kenya-nigeria-south-africa |url-status=live |access-date=October 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026111643/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/11/quartz-africa-launch-june-kenya-nigeria-south-africa |archive-date=October 26, 2017 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> According to ''Ad Age'', ''Quartz'' made around $30 million in revenue in 2016, and employed 175 people.<ref>{{cite news |title=Quartz said to near $30 million in revenue, without clickbait or standard ad units |language=en-US |newspaper=Advertising Age |url=https://adage.com/article/media/quartz-driven-8x-increase-revenue-launch/304925 |first=Jeremy |last=Barr |url-status=live |access-date=May 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529203240/http://adage.com/article/media/quartz-driven-8x-increase-revenue-launch/304925/ |archive-date=May 29, 2018}}</ref>
With its website registering approximately 22 million unique users in August, ''Quartz'' saw its revenue decrease to $27.6 million as advertising spending declined.<ref name="NYT 2018">{{cite news |date=July 2, 2018 |title=Quartz, Atlantic Media's Business News Start-Up, Is Sold to Japanese Firm |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/02/business/dealbook/quartz-atlantic-media-uzabase.html |first=Paul |last=Mozur |url-status=live |access-date=July 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904174102/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/02/business/dealbook/quartz-atlantic-media-uzabase.html |archive-date=September 4, 2019}}</ref> Approximately 700,000 people subscribe to its roster of email newsletters, which includes its flagship ''Daily Brief''.<ref>{{cite web |date=January 31, 2018 |title=Why Quartz has gone niche with newsletter topics |url=https://digiday.com/media/quartz-gone-niche-newsletter-topics |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529130341/https://digiday.com/media/quartz-gone-niche-newsletter-topics/ |archive-date=May 29, 2018 |access-date=May 28, 2018 |website=Digiday}}</ref>
In 2018, Japanese company Uzabase (Japanese: ユーザベース) acquired ''Quartz'' from Atlantic Media for $86 million.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/30a073c215be4382991e57ffdf23b1b6|title=Japan's Uzabase to acquire online news platform Quartz|website=The Associated Press|date=July 3, 2018|access-date=July 17, 2018|archive-date=July 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717154011/https://apnews.com/30a073c215be4382991e57ffdf23b1b6|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=PaywallORnotNLab2019>{{Cite web |last=Schmidt |first=Christine |date=May 13, 2019 |title=Quartz, built on free distribution, has put its articles behind a paywall |url=https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/05/quartz-built-on-free-distribution-has-put-its-articles-behind-a-paywall |access-date=September 22, 2020 |website=Nieman Lab |archive-date=October 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001231223/https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/05/quartz-built-on-free-distribution-has-put-its-articles-behind-a-paywall/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Perlberg|first=Steven|date=June 15, 2020|title=Caught in the mushy middle: How Quartz fell to earth|url=https://digiday.com/media/caught-in-the-mushy-middle-how-quartz-fell-to-earth/|access-date=September 22, 2020|website=Digiday|language=en-US|archive-date=September 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918143114/https://digiday.com/media/caught-in-the-mushy-middle-how-quartz-fell-to-earth/|url-status=live}}</ref> In October 2019, when Seward became the site's new CEO after then co-CEO and editor-in-chief Delaney resigned,<ref>{{Cite news|newspaper=Adweek |date=October 7, 2019|url=https://www.adweek.com/performance-marketing/quartz-co-founder-kevin-delaney-departs-new-editor-in-chief/|title=Quartz Searches for New Editor in Chief After Co-Founder Departs|last=Jerde|first=Sara |access-date=October 8, 2019|archive-date=October 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007165228/https://www.adweek.com/digital/quartz-co-founder-kevin-delaney-departs-new-editor-in-chief/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=QuartzDelaneyStepsdownNYT2019>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/business/media/quartz-delaney-out.html|title=Quartz Editor in Chief Steps Down in Shake-Up|first=Marc |last=Tracy|first2=Edmund |last2=Lee|date=October 7, 2019|access-date=January 20, 2023|archive-date=January 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120214337/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/business/media/quartz-delaney-out.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Quartz'' had its app removed by Apple from its Chinese App Store, as part of the Great Firewall, for reporting on the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://9to5mac.com/2019/10/09/apple-china-quartz-app-store |title=Apple removes 'Quartz' news app from Chinese App Store |last=Miller |first=Chance |date=October 9, 2019 |website=9to5Mac |language=en-US |access-date=October 10, 2019 |archive-date=October 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010065316/https://9to5mac.com/2019/10/09/apple-china-quartz-app-store/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/9/20907228/apple-quartz-app-store-china-removal-hong-kong-protests-censorshi|title=Apple removes Quartz news app from the Chinese App Store over Hong Kong coverage|last=Statt|first=Nick|date=October 9, 2019|website=The Verge|access-date=October 10, 2019|archive-date=October 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010015646/https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/9/20907228/apple-quartz-app-store-china-removal-hong-kong-protests-censorship|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Leskin 2019">{{cite web |last=Leskin |first=Paige |title=Here are all the major US tech companies blocked behind China's 'Great Firewall' |website=Business Insider |date=October 10, 2019 |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/major-us-tech-companies-blocked-from-operating-in-china-2019-5 |access-date=May 17, 2020 |archive-date=May 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502023357/https://www.businessinsider.com/major-us-tech-companies-blocked-from-operating-in-china-2019-5 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Revenue fell from $11.6 million in the first half of 2019 to $5 million in the first half of 2020. After being sold by Uzabase to the publication's staff in November 2020,<ref>{{cite news |title=Japan's Uzabase sells Quartz news site to co-founder, editor-in-chief |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uzabase-divestiture/japans-uzabase-sells-quartz-news-site-to-co-founder-editor-in-chief-idUSKBN27P0C3 |access-date=March 1, 2021 |work=Reuters |date=November 9, 2020 |language=en |archive-date=November 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119095211/https://www.reuters.com/article/uzabase-divestiture/japans-uzabase-sells-quartz-news-site-to-co-founder-editor-in-chief-idUSKBN27P0C3 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Pompeo |first=Joe |title="Journalism Needs Help to Survive This": Despite a Crushing Spring, the Media's Pandemic Reckoning Is Far From Over |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/10/the-medias-pandemic-reckoning-is-far-from-over |access-date=March 1, 2021 |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=October 8, 2020 |language=en-us |archive-date=January 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118224658/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/10/the-medias-pandemic-reckoning-is-far-from-over |url-status=live }}</ref> the site was acquired by G/O Media in April 2022.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Abdel-Baqui |first1=Omar |last2=Bruell |first2=Alexandra |date=April 28, 2022 |title=Gizmodo Owner G/O Media Buys Business News Site Quartz |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/business-news-site-quartz-bought-by-g-o-media-11651158557 |access-date=May 2, 2022 |archive-date=May 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502065816/https://www.wsj.com/articles/business-news-site-quartz-bought-by-g-o-media-11651158557 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Owen |first=Laura Hazard |date=April 29, 2022 |title="An audible gasp": Quartz, once a high-flying startup, has sold to G/O Media |work=Nieman Journalism Lab |url=https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/04/an-audible-gasp-quartz-once-a-high-flying-startup-has-sold-to-g-o-media/ |access-date=May 12, 2022 |archive-date=May 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511151406/https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/04/an-audible-gasp-quartz-once-a-high-flying-startup-has-sold-to-g-o-media/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In January 2025, a year after ''Quartz India'' was shut down,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Last Post on Quartz India Twitter is in 2023, qz.com/india is defunct. |url=https://x.com/qzindia}}</ref> the site drew controversy for publishing content written by artificial intelligence. A G/O Media spokesperson called their AI reporting tools "purely experimental."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bellan |first1=Rebecca |title=Quartz has been quietly publishing AI-generated news articles |url=https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/27/quartz-has-been-quietly-publishing-ai-generated-news-articles/ |access-date=April 4, 2025 |work=TechCrunch |date=January 27, 2025 |archive-date=August 4, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250804090200/https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/27/quartz-has-been-quietly-publishing-ai-generated-news-articles/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In April 2025, G/O Media sold ''Quartz'' and sister site ''The Inventory'' to Redbrick, a Canadian software firm.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fischer |first1=Sara |last2=Flynn |first2=Kerry |date=April 4, 2025 |title=Exclusive: Quartz sells again |url=https://www.axios.com/2025/04/04/quartz-sold-redbrick-go-media |access-date=April 4, 2025 |work=Axios |archive-date=July 31, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250731132404/https://www.axios.com/2025/04/04/quartz-sold-redbrick-go-media |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250404654429/en/Redbrick-Acquires-Quartz-from-GO-Media-To-Drive-Next-Phase-of-Growth-for-Pioneering-Digital-Media-Company|title=Redbrick Acquires Quartz from G/O Media To Drive Next Phase of Growth for Pioneering Digital Media Company|work=Business Wire|access-date=2025-12-01|language=en}}</ref> Ten out of twelve ''Quartz'' newsroom employees were then let go.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tobitt |first=Charlotte |date=2025-04-14 |title=G/O Media CEO says future for Quartz 'extremely bright' despite newsroom being laid off |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/digital-journalism/quartz-sale-go-media-jim-spanfeller/ |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=Press Gazette |language=en-US |archive-date=September 11, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250911075240/https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/digital-journalism/quartz-sale-go-media-jim-spanfeller/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Content== ''Quartz'' is structured around a collection of phenomena or what it calls "obsessions"<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.niemanlab.org/2014/05/the-newsonomics-of-quartz-19-months-in |title=The newsonomics of Quartz, 19 months in |work=Nieman Lab |date=May 2015 |access-date=October 25, 2017 |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201170538/http://www.niemanlab.org/2014/05/the-newsonomics-of-quartz-19-months-in/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=NoPayQZobsesGobsNYT2012>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/business/media/with-digital-only-quartz-atlantic-to-cover-business-world.html|title=Covering the World of Business, Digital Only|author=David Carr|date=September 23, 2012|access-date=January 22, 2023|archive-date=January 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122065311/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/business/media/with-digital-only-quartz-atlantic-to-cover-business-world.html|url-status=live}}</ref> instead of "beats", preferring news stories or reports to be either short or long rather than middle of the road or average.
''Quartz'' often uses charts, created through its Chartbuilder tool, which forms the basis of its Atlas platform. Chartbuilder has been used by other media organizations, including CNBC, FiveThirtyEight, NBC News, New Hampshire Public Radio, NPR, ''The New Yorker'', ''The Press-Enterprise'', and ''The Wall Street Journal''.<ref>{{cite web|title = The most important things we learned in our first two years of chartbuildering|url = http://quartzthings.tumblr.com/post/122253112014/the-most-important-things-we-learned-in-our-first|website = quartzthings.tumblr.com|access-date = November 4, 2015|archive-date = October 29, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151029140216/http://quartzthings.tumblr.com/post/122253112014/the-most-important-things-we-learned-in-our-first|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/06/quartz-maps-a-future-for-its-interactive-charts-with-atlas/ |title=Quartz maps a future for its interactive charts with Atla |work=Nieman Lab |date=June 2015 |access-date=May 28, 2018 |archive-date=July 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703220616/http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/06/quartz-maps-a-future-for-its-interactive-charts-with-atlas/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In December 2024, a ChatGPT tool used to write hundreds of daily articles on securities and exchange filings for the past year was shut down because it would sometimes publish incorrect names and figures that actually belonged to other companies.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Ben |author-link=Ben Smith (journalist) |date=December 9, 2024 |title=Panic in public radio |url=https://www.semafor.com/newsletter/12/08/2024/panic-at-public-radio |access-date=December 13, 2024 |work=Semafor |archive-date=October 11, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251011021236/https://www.semafor.com/newsletter/12/08/2024/panic-at-public-radio |url-status=live }}</ref> As of January 2025 ''Quartz'' had expanded its use of generative AI to publish lengthier articles with disclaimers about potential inaccuracies due to the use of experimental technology. These articles summarize other sources, which are often mangled or misrepresented, and in some cases are themselves AI slop.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dupré|first1=Maggie Harrison|title=Quartz Is Publishing AI-Generated Articles Based on Other AI Slop, Along With Warning They May Be Filled With Errors|url=https://futurism.com/quartz-ai-generated-articles-slop-errors|access-date=January 30, 2025|work=Futurism|publisher=Recurrent Ventures|date=January 28, 2025|archive-date=January 29, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129002111/https://futurism.com/quartz-ai-generated-articles-slop-errors|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=MacLeod |first1=Riley |title=G/O Media Is Publishing AI Slop Again - Aftermath |url=https://aftermath.site/quartz-ai-articles-go-media |access-date=January 30, 2025 |work=Aftermath |date=January 24, 2025 |archive-date=August 5, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250805011154/https://aftermath.site/quartz-ai-articles-go-media |url-status=live }}</ref>
==See also== * Quartz News (Facebook Watch)
==References== {{Reflist|30em}} {{Clear}}
{{G/O Media}} Category:Business newspapers published in the United States Category:Economics websites Category:American news websites Category:Internet properties established in 2012 Category:2018 mergers and acquisitions Category:2022 mergers and acquisitions Category:2025 mergers and acquisitions