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RE: Microsoft wants journalists, not tech writers?
Subject:RE: Microsoft wants journalists, not tech writers? From:Kate Robinson <KRobinson -at- seattle -dot- telecomsys -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 30 Oct 2003 06:56:07 -0800
As a 15-year veteran of Microsoft, I have a few guesses as to what is going
on here.
I put my money on Microsoft being out to buy credibility, not some writing
style. The people who make these wacky decisions at Microsoft are far from
the trenches where folks understand the effects of such decisions on users.
Microsoft, I'm fairly certain, wants to raid the industry that has arisen
from the fact that the Office product user relies on non-Microsoft experts
for workarounds that make it possible to actually work with the products. I
refer you to any number of Techwr-l threads on numbering in Word, for
instance.
The "journalists" Microsoft seeks to hire probably did not go to J-school.
They are power users who can write and who make a living selling the skill
set to magazines etc. They are "journalists" by virtue of the venue in which
their writing is published, not by calling or training.
Having lived through a number of regimes with Bright Ideas about hiring
non-techwriters to "improve the quality" of documentation, I wish them luck.
What will no doubt happen is what always happens: A few folks with the
aptitude and constitution for being a tech writer at Microsoft will gain a
new career. Microsoft will "train
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