How a tech journalist makes stories easy to understand

Sabrina Ortiz

UNC-Chapel Hill journalism professor Andy Bechtel interviewed Sabrina Ortiz, an associate editor at ZDNET, where she covers the intersection of technology and daily life, about her job.

Here is an excerpt:

Q. What do you find most interesting about the tech beat?
A. In all honesty, I was quite scared when I first learned about my assignment. Although I have always thought tech was “cool,” for lack of a better word, I always felt that the space was reserved for STEM people who understood the inner workings and technical details of the subject.
When I started working, I realized that couldn’t be the furthest from the truth! In the day and age we live in, technology surrounds us at all times. You yourself are a tech expert of sorts by simply using these innovations every day.
Do I sometimes run into things I have absolutely no idea about? Absolutely, but that’s the best part of my job! Because I lack the technical knowledge on some subjects, when I research and learn a new concept, I am able to put that information into words that everyone can understand. I like the idea that through my job I can make technology less scary to all and learn at the same time.

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.