The problem with tech journalism: Too much focus on page views

Tom Foremski of ZDNet.com writes that intense media coverage of the specs of consumer products such as the iPhone misses more important issues.

Foremski writes, “Tech journalism has become tedious product journalism where printing the spec sheets for mass produced consumer products is celebrated as a great story and where there appears to be little understanding of bigger picture stories about how our digital technologies are transforming our industries, cities, and our societies, at a pace and scale that’s never been seen in our history.

“While tech companies, including Intel and Apple, are partly to blame for the rise of product journalism, because their news releases are essentially product spec sheets, there’s also another factor at work. The impact of digital technologies on the media industry is causing a massive disruption in its business models.

“The news business has always chased readership numbers but now its easy to tell which news stories generate the highest views and to focus resources there. It’s also possible to tie reporters’ salaries to pageviews and unique visitors.

“The rise of pageview journalism now dominates most newsrooms and its effects are seen in the torrent of near-identical news stories that desperately link-bait readers to click on rewrites of corporate pr releases.”

Read more here.