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RE: Microsoft wants journalists, not tech writers?
Subject:RE: Microsoft wants journalists, not tech writers? From:"Lippincott, Rick" <Rick -dot- Lippincott -at- flir -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 30 Oct 2003 11:13:08 -0500
>Victoria Nuttle [mailto:vnuttle -at- cauto -dot- com]
> I can't be the only tech writer around here who was a journalism major
>in college....
I think there are a few of us on the list. My BS is in Journalism, and I
worked in the field for a few years.
Journalists and tech writers do have some common skill sets. Ideally,
good examples of each are able to:
* Interview knowledgeable persons to get information
* Organize facts into a logical fashion that explains the situation
* Determine what needs to be reported to the reader, and include it
* Determine what is irrelevant to the reader, and exclude it
* Stick to the facts
* Write it clearly
What really differs is the -way- we convey the information.
Take, for example, the ongoing tragedy of the California fires. How
would a technical writer record this data vs. a journalist?
As a technical writer, I'd prepare a volume that describes precise
details on the fire origination, speed, direction, and total damage
done. I'd list the acres burned. I could list the houses destroyed,
document the contents. I'd record the injuries and deaths. Some of this
could be displayed as tables showing the amount of damage done in
comparative neighborhoods. It would be a thick, accurate, complete
record of the destruction of the damage. But it wouldn't tell the
stories of the people who have suffered losses.
As a journalist, I'd tell the story of the people. I'd bring out the
personal tragedies. I may not record every single minute detail of the
destruction, but I'd convey the magnitude by more intensely by focusing
on specific individuals.
As a technical writer, the loss of a family pet in the fires would be a
small notation in a table somewhere in the volume. As a journalist, I
might put such a thing fairly near the lead, because it serves well to
convey the loss.
Both journalists and technical writers convey information, but the
styles used are very very different.
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