Here's a New Year's resolution I'd like to see made, and kept, by all tech journalists:
Report first, then think, then write. Don't skip the first two steps, and don't get them out of order.
Computer, networking and mobile technology is changing all of human society. Journalism about tech is important. But tech journalism today is a vast wasteland of plagiarism, rumormongering, empty snark, fanboiism, trolling, unfounded assumptions and whole-cloth invention.
It's damned hard to find any actual reporting. Actual facts, when they are to be found, usually from PR handouts and spec sheets. That's not journalism. It's churnalism.
These failures are not unique to tech journalism, of course. Mainstream journalism, especially cable TV news, falls into the same traps. But you should have learned by third grade that "everybody else does it" is no excuse.
Comments
Good point, but...