

Kara Swisher: Tech's Most Powerful Snoop - r0h1n
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/07/kara-swisher-silicon-valleys-most-powerful-snoop.html

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rplst8
Swisher may be a powerful snoop. She may even be the "best" tech journalist
out there. I still think that tech journalism by and large is either a PR
machine or an Entertainment Tonight for Silicon Valley.

Serious tech journalism is lacking - both in the mainstream media and from
traditional tech sources.

IMO the topics that are huge issues that have largely gone uncovered (though
some have now gained steam):

    
    
      - Energy Use/Efficiency of tech
      - Governance of the Internet
      - Privacy (until recently - sort of [and it still gets buried])
      - Software copyright issues
      - Market/monetary prospects for new tech 
        (I think the article sort of talks about the fear of 
         "crushing innovation")
      - Energy tech itself (new forms of power generation, batteries)
      - Tech in our lives (and I'm not talking about the fear card)
         - autonomous vehicles, medical devices, etc.
    

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.

~~~
acomjean
Part of the issue is people are used to free. Journalism costs money, and if
your skilled enough in tech to write the in depth article, your probably going
to get a job in the field rather than writing about it.

Some of the problem is its hard to have a business supported by advertising
that reviews products from the same companies that are advertising.

My cousin found this out many many years ago when his news station produced a
segment "should you buy or lease a car". There was reaction from the car
dealers who were advertisers.

Same problem as game reviews have.

I miss AllThingsD which Kara was a writer for.

~~~
jonnathanson
A lot of this is sad and true. There are a lot of problems at play, and one of
the biggest is the brutal reality of the economics of journalism. It's a TAM
issue, or at least most publications perceive it to be one. There are millions
of people who will read free, throw-away posts about gossip, snarky
commentary, quick gadget reviews, and rumors. There are maybe tens of
thousands of people who will read in-depth, highly detailed, highly technical,
highly sophisticated discussions of deeper issues. "Tl;dr" is a reality most
outlets have to contend with. So is the general popularity of "snackable"
content, as well as the relatively low economic cost of producing it. The ROI
is much higher for any advertising-supported business.

Some people are exploring alternatives. Jessica Lessin, Ben Thompson, and
others are trying to make a living selling subscriptions to nominally smaller
audiences who will pay for more in-depth coverage and analysis. I couldn't
tell you how well they are actually doing, however, and I'd be lying if I said
I was optimistic about the ability of that model to do much more than break
even. Others, especially those who sell ebooks and online courses, tend to do
pretty well for themselves -- but they're not really in the journalism
business so much as the ebook-selling business. While I support and celebrate
their success, their success does not necessarily solve the dilemma of what's
to be done about the economics of journalism.

What I like about the tech press is that a lot of the players involved are
pretty smart. You generally find intelligent, analytical bloggers and writers
covering this industry. What I don't like about the tech press is that so much
of it is PR-driven puffery. That's where the money is, and that's how
journalists negotiate access to the up-to-the-minute information that every
outlet is always fighting to get.

The alternative to PR-driven, late-breaking news sites is in-depth, analytical
sites. But again, the TAM there is probably small, and the willingness to pay
is uncertain.

 _" if your skilled enough in tech to write the in depth article, your
probably going to get a job in the field rather than writing about it."_

Generally true. I can tell you from personal experience that it's _damned_
hard to make a living as a journalist, especially if you have the skill set to
make a viable alternative of working on the industry side. Journalism has one
of the lowest payoff-to-effort ratios in the professional world. (Unless
you're one of the lucky few who can make a killing on bestselling books.) I've
spent the last 10 years on the industry side, making a very respectable living
doing so. I switched over to journalism early last year. My income dropped by
about 75%, and I'm working much harder than I ever have. And I'm one of the
lucky few who landed a great agent and great editorial connections right out
of the gate. It's a tough racket. Now, I've got two choices in front of me as
I look toward 2015: try to become a "rockstar" and sell a book proposal or
two; or pack it in and go back to an industry job. For now I'm still foolish
enough to be having a go at the journalism route. But industry employment is
looking better and better with every passing month.

A friend of mine, who is a reasonably successful musician, put it to me this
way: some lines of work are very rewarding to the average worker. Other lines
of work punish all but the top decile, if not the 99th percentile. Journalism,
like rock music, is one of those professions. I wouldn't advise anyone go into
it unless they truly believe they can be among the best in the world at it.
And being the best in the world at it involves a _lot_ more than merely being
a good writer.

~~~
drflet
Just a note that we're working on this problem here at Beacon (W14):
[http://beaconreader.com](http://beaconreader.com). Would welcome your
feedback!

~~~
jonnathanson
I have seen you guys before on here, and I am generally rooting for your model
to work. :) Selfishly speaking, but also unselfishly speaking, I really want
there to be a model that both incentivizes great content _and_ encourages
people to support writers for their work. I'm also very happy to see that you
guys allow writers to keep their IP rights. That's a big issue for writers,
obviously, and not all platform-publishers understand as much.

I also think there's a vast contingent of people out there who are great
writers, but not necessarily great at self-hosting blogs and CMSes. So your
solution makes a lot of sense for that segment.

I'll definitely check it out in greater depth.

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bsder
"Swisher talked over him and made her way around the table, hugging Rose and
insulting blogger turned venture capitalist MG Siegler to his girlfriend..."

Did anybody else actually read stuff like this and get angry? Is this what
passes for "journalism"? Being a bully at social occasions you weren't invited
to?

I'm reminded of the old saw about why animal rights activists protest old
ladies wearing fur and not Hell's Angels wearing leather ...

~~~
fnimick
There's no quicker way of making yourself appear high-status than acting like
you're better than the other big players at the table. Being a bully is the
name of the game.

~~~
rprospero
The catch is that there's no better way to appear low-status than pretending
to be high status. When someone acts like a bully, it's a key clue that they
don't have anything to offer and are using misdirection to try and pretend
that they do. Most people who do have something to offer won't fall for it.

------
malandrew

        "then, for good measure, threw in: “He also dresses like a 
        lesbian, but it’s okay.” (This is a go-to Swisher barb; 
        she told Twitter CEO Dick Costolo he dresses “like 
        Ellen.”)"
    

I don't know about anyone else, but this strikes me as remarkably
unprofessional. Would such comments be acceptable in a workplace if they were
about a co-worker? If not, than why is it acceptable to speak similarly about
people you cover. How Tony Conrad and Dick Costolo dress is orthogonal to what
she focuses on as a journalist.

------
mcguire
"Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss
people."

\-- Unknown

~~~
dpritchett
How do you eat while you're waiting for your ideas to pay off though? I find
it helps to keep up with industry trends and trendsetters.

~~~
rhizome
What are you implying, that Swisher has ideas that will someday pay off
differently than the gig she has going now?

~~~
dpritchett
I mean that big ideas rarely pay off in the short term. Many of us need to
dirty our hands with mundane human concerns in order to survive, even if we
are focused on ideas rather than events or people. I'm sure Swisher is not
planning on switching to research.

~~~
mcguire
Like an article about a reporter? That seems mostly to be about the famous
people the reporter knows?

How exactly does that help you survive?

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mikevm
I never actually read anything she wrote, but I can't really stand her after
watching her in the Steve Jobs & Bill Gates D5 Conference:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LUGU0xprUo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LUGU0xprUo)

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sumedh
When Steve Jobs was at the D8 conference back in 2010, I just felt that Kara
was always breaking the flow and that Jobs was almost ignoring her.

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crapshoot101
Kara Swisher is genuinely great, and less of a PR agency / water carrier than
Techcrunch. Good on her, and its good to see good journalism flourishing.

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kingnight
What's going on with the lead image? It's neat but the lighting is confusing
my brain.

~~~
acomjean
aggressive shadow lightening. Some sharpening too.

~~~
kingnight
Makes sense.

I typically dislike the look of boosting shadows, and wouldn't here if it
weren't for the interesting composition/pattern of people.

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NathanthePie
Fantastic writeup.

