A Guide For Tech Journalism ⇥ techdirt.com

Nirit Weiss-Blatt, Techdirt:

Tech journalism is evolving, including how it reports on and critiques tech companies. At the same time, tech journalists should still serve as bullshit detectors and hype slayers. The following tips are intended to help navigate the terrain.

As a general rule, beware of overconfident techies bragging about their innovation capabilities [and] overconfident critics accusing that innovation of atrocities. If featured in your article, provide evidence and diverse perspectives to balance their quotes.

I thought this article and the linked piece by Lee Vinsel, from February 2021, are fair analyses of technology hype and scaremongering. The most headline-grabbing worries are probably inaccurate as they are often based on marketing that is equally wrong. The concerns we ought to be paying attention can be less conspicuous. Similarly, the promises made by tech companies are often hopelessly unrealistic. It does not matter whether they are showing off a new product on a stage or responding to a legal body — they are marketing and spinning, and their claims should be treated skeptically.