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Subject:Re: Journalism vrs. English From:Ron Miller <RSMH -at- AOL -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 20 Apr 1995 11:11:05 -0400
Dan Fierro writes:
I don't believe journalism has anything to do with technical writing,
besides the obvious point that both involve stringing words together in a
coherent fashion.
Dan:
Obviously I disagree with you since I wrote the quote you use in your note.
As a journalist I often dealt with complex subject matter, which I then
translated into coherent language for a general audience. This is just what I
do as technical writer. It seems since you are on this list, you too are a
former journalist turned tech writer, so I don't understand your point. You
and I both made the jump from one profession to the other; many on this list
have done the same.
By the way, I too have my degree in Journalism and English. I gradute from
UMass/Amherst which doesn't offer a straight Journalism degree. You must
combine it with something (e.g., political science, English, Economics, etc.).
You seem to have some residual resentment from your experience, but this
doesn't make my original assertion that there are connections between the two
fields any less legitimate. Perhaps your collegues were not terribly literate,
but that does not mean those of us who come from a newspaper background
share the same experience.
