Thanks to Rachel for this. Fusion PR shared the results of a survey of technology journalists on the impact of social media. Some 1200 journalists responded, and while the results were framed around how many of them are impacted, I was shocked by how many say they aren’t.

Keeping in mind that these are technology journalists…

60 percent refused to say their stories and the way they cover news are impacted by social media.

22 percent don’t even read blogs. If it were just 22 tech journalists saying they don’t read blogs, it would still be surprising, but this is 264 out of the 1200. What are they thinking?

69 percent don’t regard bloggers as credible sources. This is stunning. Since many journalists – and tech journalists – are blogging, how can 828 out of 1200 established tech journalists say bloggers aren’t credible? And if the question seemed to be asking if all bloggers are credible, how could 31 percent have said they are? I really hope this number is the result of a badly worded question.

I’m well aware of how the bubble distorts perception, but how can you cover technology without being “impacted” by social media? I wonder at the rationale here: social media is irrelevant, or I don’t have the time, or I can get all the information I need elsewhere. How about I’m an ostrich and proud of it?

Blogging, Fusion PR, journalism, ostrich journalism, Social Media, Technology, technology journalists, Writing

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Good short post by John McIntyre on the problems that cause readers to stumble.

“The easiest thing a reader can do is to stop reading,” he writes, and notes:

“Little errors in grammar and usage diminish our credibility with the readers who notice them. (Not all readers are fussbudgets about grammar, but we gain nothing by irritating those who are.) Little errors in points of fact diminish our credibility with readers who know better. An opaque paragraph brings the reader to a dead stop. The eight paragraphs of throat-clearing it takes to get to the point of the story test the reader’s patience. That strained or wooden headline blocks the reader’s path to the text.”

On one end of the scale are people who don’t worry about readers and write exactly as they talk. They just assume readers will get it and don’t really care if they are clear or not. At the other end are those who worry too much about what readers think and write tortured sentences in an attempt to sound formal or important. Confused by their own phrasing, they have no idea how to untangle the mess. In the middle are the rest of us, just trying to be clear and say something meaningful. For us, the best way to get rid of things that make readers stumble is to make a list of the problems that plague us and then edit once for each problem. Sound like a lot of work? It is.

Communication, grammar, John McIntyre, readers, Writing

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I’ve spent the last several days happily focused on environmental issues – happy because I can’t usually devote the time to this topic I’d like – but then I read in Michael Prospero’s piece in Fast Company that:

“Once again, we lurch towards our Jetsons-inspired future, this time, courtesy of NASA. The space agency selected The Cafe Foundation, a group of aircraft engineers, to host its Personal Air Vehicle Challenge, a $250,000 contest to see who can design a flying car for the common man.”

Prospero isn’t at all pleased at the prospect. Among several laments, he writes:

“Considering that nearly 2.6 million people were injured in traffic accidents last year, imagine what will happen when they start traveling along three axes.”

Not to mention road rage, I mean, air rage.

A lifelong fan of NASA, the Jetsons, and science fiction in general, I’ve been impatient for this whole flying thing to get started. Certainly in my lifetime, I imagined. But as I read Prospero’s piece, the only image that came to mind was standing at the beach and seeing hundreds of thousands of cars between me and the sunset.

There are some sacrifices we just shouldn’t have to make for the “future.”

Environment, Fast Company, flying cars, future, Jetsons, NASA, Personal Air Vehicle, science fiction, Technology, The Café Foundation, Writing

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