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>'Simply put, there are huge policy questions and tech issues that the public needs to be educated about and need to be discussed - and very few journalists are

>'Simply put, there are huge policy questions and tech issues that the public needs to be educated about and need to be discussed - and very few journalists are doing it.' I think part of the problem is summed up right in that sentence. Writing at a level that makes sense for the general public - those who would benefit most from that education will see the piece deemed 'uninformed garbage' or worse by those in the know. It might be a great article for the layman and reasonable introduction for an unfamiliar technical person, but it's going to be dismissed for being less than authoritative, stomped for every detail glossed over and kicked for each missed nuance. You'd think a bunch of angry techies would be so localized as not to matter. I think it's quite the opposite - everybody has a friend or relative who acts as the arbiter of tech for the circle. The result is a cousin to what I'd call the "What computer should I buy?" Effect. When a non-technical person asks that question of their friend in tech all they really want is a laptop that works and fits in their bag. Instead, they're all too often going to get flooded details, a list of trade-offs and so many admonishments about their preferences that they quickly learn to simply stop asking. Mainstream tech articles play out the same way. When someone speaking with authority drops a "Stop reading at..." over some trifle or a legion of angry geeks invade the comments to decry an imperfect analogy the layman is going to see that as an outright dismissal of the entire subject or assassination of the article quality and the journalist is probably going to wonder why they bother.

dkrich 12y ago
I don't think this has too much to do with it. The reality is much simpler. Blogs like TC go for mass-appeal. People like reading MG Siegler's fanboy columns on Apple/Facebook products even if they despise Siegler and his opinions. It may fly in the face of logic, but people have shown they like reading dumbed-down articles that are poorly researched with eyeball-grabbing headlines. We may pound our fists in frustration, knowing that the author probably didn't spend five minutes researching the topic they are acting as an authority on, but the reality is that people have voted with their clicks and sharing behavior that this is what they want. They don't want well-researched topics on political issues. For those that do, there are a bevy of niche blogs that will serve their purposes, but make no mistake about it, they are niche because millions of people frankly don't care enough to read about it. Think New York Times vs. Buzzfeed.

dkrich 12y ago

I don't think this has too much to do with it. The reality is much simpler. Blogs like TC go for mass-appeal. People like reading MG Siegler's fanboy columns on Apple/Facebook products even if they despise Siegler and his opinions. It may fly in the face of logic, but people have shown they like reading dumbed-down articles that are poorly researched with eyeball-grabbing headlines. We may pound our fists in frustration, knowing that the author probably didn't spend five minutes researching the topic they are acting as an authority on, but the reality is that people have voted with their clicks and sharing behavior that this is what they want. They don't want well-researched topics on political issues. For those that do, there are a bevy of niche blogs that will serve their purposes, but make no mistake about it, they are niche because millions of people frankly don't care enough to read about it. Think New York Times vs. Buzzfeed.