Insight: How to cover tech news

Most people wouldn’t associate technology with Phoenix, but in the past few years, Arizona’s capital has taken on a new identity.

It’s called the Silicon Desert, and tech companies are flocking to be a part of it.

This growing popularity is due in part to the capital city’s affordable real estate and proximity to Silicon Valley.

As the city’s population and innovation continues to grow so does the demand for tech journalism.

“I could write 10 stories a day and still not cover everything because there’s just a lot technology wise going on here in Phoenix,” Hayley Ringle, tech reporter for the Phoenix Business Journal, said.

And in a market flooded with start-ups and large corporations, like GoDaddy and Boeing, Ringle said each day is packed with events, press releases and phone calls.

“Technology is so important because it envelops everything we do.” she said. “Everybody has a smartphone nowadays, but with all the technology out there, you don’t have to be a tech company to be involved in technology.”

Let me guess, you’re probably reading this on a smartphone, aren’t you?

Why tech news?

Apple is a brand synonymous with technology and innovation, and its astonishing growth is representative of overall technology movement.

In 2005, Apple’s net income reached $1.33 billion. By 2014, the California-based company reached a net income of $39.51 billion, according to Statista.

Dylan Tweney, editor in chief of technology blog VentureBeat, said the rapid growth in the tech industry, as seen with Apple, has made his job interesting throughout the years.

“It’s an industry where there is always something new and innovation isn’t just hype,” Tweney said. “It’s not like financial innovation on Wall Street where it’s just a different way of packaging together securities and that counts as innovation. “

“With this you have new capabilities through technologies that you didn’t have before, and to me, as a journalist, is really exciting and fun to write about.”

And for someone who has spent the majority of his professional career covering technology, Tweney has seen it all, but he still insists each day is surprising.

“In a broader sense I have been doing tech journalism for a long time and the interesting part of that has been watching all the changes up close over years has been incredibly interesting to see.” he said. “In terms of the job I am doing right now in managing the news team at VentureBeat, I can say if I read nothing but what appeared on VentureBeat it’s not the complete picture of what’s going on but it’s incredibly interesting and varied.”

“It’s like every day there’s something new, which is exciting, but everyday there could be something evolutionary and world changing, and that’s the fun part.”

A writer’s guide to covering tech news

Conor Dougherty left the Wall Street Journal to cover technology for the New York Times six months ago, and in that time he has focused on doing one thing: making his tech news less tech-heavy and more readable.

For Dougherty a good story is one that does not have to just a “tech news” story.

“As the old saying goes: ‘There are no boring beats, only boring reporters,’” Dougherty wrote in an email to Talking Biz News. “I believe this unequivocally.”

“I recently wrote a story about Google’s frosty relationship with Mountain View, and someone remarked that it could have easily been in the National Section instead of Biz Day. I think most good stories could run in a number of different places.”

Dougherty said each story he writes begins with a conversation. He thinks of an idea then goes to his coworkers for their opinions, something he suggests more writers should do.

“One of the nice things about verbal communication is that people tell you so much without actually telling you anything,” he writes. “If you write a colleague a note about a story idea, they will often say something constructive and nice. But when you talk to them in person, they might laugh, they might yawn, and those are great cues for how to make your story better.”

While he thrives off their feedback, Dougherty always asks himself if he would talk about his topic at a party, and if the answer is no he goes back to the drawing board.

But reverting back to the beginning is not always easy. For Dougherty picking out a story from the “blur of product announcements” each day is the most difficult part of his job.

Dougherty said the notoriously tight-lipped tech industry can often pose problems to the writing process, a sentiment echoed by Tweney, but ultimately he recognizes the secretive nature of the companies he covers as just par for the course.

“I covered economics at the WSJ, so the major difference with a corporate beat is the armies of PR people,” he writes. “It can be very difficult to talk to executives, and even harder to find the middle managers who actually know what’s going on. But it’s cool. Nobody owes you information outside of what they are required to disclose by law.”

“So I see it as, they have their job, I have mine.”

Dougherty said the biggest thing for young reporters to do is to get out of their own heads.

“Stop thinking about it as tech news and just try to find good stories,” he writes. “That alone will distinguish your stories from 99% of the field.”

Tweney recommends writers put their unease at being stigmatized to the side.

“Be curious and don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions,” Tweney said. “There is this sort of weird tech reporter thing that happens sometimes where tech reporters are afraid to look stupid because everyone around them is so smart. And you have to get around that and ask a lot of dumb questions so you can actually understand what you’re writing about.”

The future of tech news

With the technology industry far from slowing down, the demand for tech journalism will only continue to rise, but the challenges that face this growing form of journalism will grow with it.

“The challenges going forward, and every field of journalism faces these challenges, are figuring out what the sustainable business model is going forward because advertising alone has been the pillar that has sustained journalism for decades,” Tweney said. “And I’m sure that will continue in some form, but it alone is not enough.”

Tweney also said the way people digest their news will have a large impact on tech news’ future.

“I mean Snapchat is now producing news,” he said. “You have to pay attention to these new platforms to see where the audience is going.”

But Tweney admits the growth of social media might be just what tech journalism needs going forward.

“The audience for tech journalism is probably going to be more open to new media and new techniques than any other area that you might focus on,” he said. “It’s certainly happened before and it’s likely to happen again.”