It's amazing the number of people who never quite know how they end up in the job and career they do. I'm no different. Journalism now looks like an obvious choice – although not at the time having just finished a Masters in Mechanical Engineering. But tech journalism?
It is a strange subset of journalism. The biggest problem of course is that most editors have very little idea what you're talking about half the time. This is simply because the vast majority of journalists have absolutely no science education, having taken arts subjects from A-level and beyond. Even if the wider populace generally has more understand of science and technology, because the IT world moves so unbelievably quickly, there is the constant problem of having to explain new products when those reading have very little idea of the background.
There is another sad truth in that a large number of tech journalists don't *really* know what the hell they're talking about either for the same reason. And this has gradually led to a depressingly press-release-created news agenda.
At the same time, newpapers and magazines have recognised that technology – computers and gadgets and games consoles and stuff – are a huge monster market, especially among the young, that they haven't tapped. And this has led to increasingly watery, whizz-bang coverage of every new gadget in MTV-style shallowness.
I'm not alone in this thinking. In fact, David Hewson – a highly respected IT journo who has been on The Sunday Times for as long as I can remember – thinks exactly the same and actually got there before me.
David quit The Sunday Times last week, claiming he was sick of the “gee-whizz” approach of the paper. In fact he complains that he “started being constantly exhorted to ‘encourage’ readers to take up new products, some of which made me distinctly uneasy”.
It led to a row and he's quit, presumably to relax and write more high-quality fiction books. I'm sure there's more to it than just that – quitting a job usually comes down to a clash of personalities. But he's still got a bloody good point.
And, while he was clearly meditating on what was wrong with large chunks of tech journalism today, he tapped up his own guide to writing about technology, which I rather like.
The advice comes under the following headings:
- Know your audience
- Never forget the family
- Try it before you write about it
- Don’t be oversophisticated
- Price matters
- If it ain’t finished, it ain’t worth writing about
- Remember there’s no one-size-fits-all solution
- Beware the brands phenomenon
- Be prepared to adapt
If you're writing about technology, I would recommend this as an excellent piece to review and reflect upon.
All that said, I have emailed the Doors editor at The Sunday Times, David Johnson, asking if he's now looking for contributors. That is the freelance journalist life – from tragedy comes opportunity.
