Chris Ziegler Took a Job at Apple While Working for the Verge, and Then Things Got Weird ⇥ theverge.com
Nilay Patel of the Verge:
Chris began working for Apple in July, but didn’t tell anyone at The Verge that he’d taken a new job until we discovered and verified his dual-employment in early September. Chris continued actively working at The Verge in July, but was not in contact with us through most of August and into September. During that period, in the dark and concerned for Chris, we made every effort to contact him and to offer him help if needed. We ultimately terminated his employment at The Verge and Vox Media the same day we verified that he was employed at Apple.
I have so many questions about this, but I have just one big one: how did nobody notice this? If I didn’t turn up for work for a month, people would notice. People would ask questions. Heck, I would ask questions like How am I maintaining two full-time jobs at the same time? and Why am I trying to maintain two jobs that have a clear conflict of interest for both parties?
I’m sure Patel and the rest of the Verge’s editorial staff are furious about this, but I bet a small part of them is a little bemused by Ziegler’s pluck.
I don’t know what Ziegler is doing at Apple, but he’s not the first journalist they’ve hired over the past couple of years: Anand Lai Shimpi and Chris Breen both left their publications for Apple, and the company has sought more journalists for Apple News, too.
Update: John Gruber:
No word on what Ziegler is (or was? — several little birdies have told me Ziegler is not listed in the company directory) doing at Apple.
…that’s not normal. Even the Proj Titan people are in Directory.
Update: The ATP Tipster:
Ziegler is indeed not in the directory. Maybe he’s working an an Apple Story?