An interesting rant on the state of tech (mostly computer) journalism.
The Failure of Tech Journalism
Posted by steve_gilliard
(August 26th, 2001, 12:54am)
As I write this, I’m watching a documentary called Breaking the News, commissioned by the Museum of Radio and Television. It’s about the exploits of the big TV anchors, who, for some reason, seem to always wind up close to combat. I.e., Ed Bradley asking a Klansman whether black people should vote. The general question seems to be: “how close can you get to combat and not get killed”?
Journalism is serious business. It may not seem that way some days, but it is. Too bad the online journalists, with their big parties and their fancy offices, never got it. In the real world of journalism, people report from their homes, from foxholes, from hotels without water. No one needs $60 million in leases to be a good reporter.
In theory, there is no reason that a publication can’t cover IT, make money and still function. The only reason that they didn’t (Red Herring is about to chop half their staff) is that they forgot what business they were in.
As Online Journalism Review columnist Ken Layne says: journalists are fucking idiots. I would add, especially when it comes to money. Journalists are not good with money, don’t much like it. Send them a paycheck and they’ll kill for you. Journalists are most happy when they are kicking up dirt. And that is how it should be.
The hacks and weasels who worked for these sites filled their magazines and web sites with completely unaggressive, pathetic coverage of some of the biggest criminals of the last decade. They should hang their heads in shame. The reality is that everyone had their heads up their asses because they thought they were going to be rich. Call it the Almost Famous syndrome. They thought they were part of the news. Not even on his worst days did Dan Rather think he worked FOR the White House. He knew Nixon didn’t sign his checks. Continue reading