Tech reporters are a breed of their own, with a distinct set of skills, knowledge and experience. In this primer, G. Pascal Zachary, who reported on Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury and The Wall Street Journal, gives us the basics.
The mega trade expo known as the CES, or Consumer Electronics Show, kicks off Jan. 8 and as usual will generate quite a buzz nationwide as new technology, gadgets, apps and other innovations for the home, car and beyond are unveiled. It’s one of the largest of the annual trade shows, with more than 150,000 [...]
Well, it’s hardly the story anyone wants to report, ever, and particularly the week before Christmas. But realistically, the Connecticut school shooting is going to be top of mind for many audiences the next few weeks, and with it the question of guns and safety. Leaving aside the contentious politics and public policy issues, business journalists [...]
We’re only one week out from Black Friday, the marketing gimmick that’s become an entrenched post-Thanksgiving retail tradition in the last 15 or 20 years, when consumers are wooed to mania by one-day promotions. This year it threatens to be eclipsed by Black Thursday, formerly known as Thanksgiving Day, but which aggressive merchants have [...]
With boggling news this week that 100 million iPads are floating around out there — and more to come with Apple’s debut of the new mini iPad – one does start to wonder “What happens to all the old iPads?” The answer to that question is a timely one amid the announcement of the new [...]
The end of October brings not only Halloween but also one of the most important trade shows of the year, the Specialty Equipment Market Association’s monster expo and conference in Las Vegas. And even if your beat isn’t directly tied to the automotive sector, chances are you can find story nuggets coming out of the [...]
With rumors swirling about the imminent iPhone 5 release date – which some say could come as early as tomorrow – it pays to ponder some spin-off business angles to the latest installment in the smartphone saga. The iPhone can be difficult to localize as a retail story because it’s not manufactured in the U.S. and [...]
A couple of big events this week in the video game arena - the release of “Guild Wars 2″ and a new patch for World of Warcraft — might prompt a look at how the electronic entertainment industry plays in your local economy. And even if your market isn’t home to one of the big game [...]
The Mars rover Curiosity touched down on the red planet early Monday morning and the $2.5 billion project aimed at finding building blocks of life is underway. Press and social media coverage of the mission is heavy. The landing has its own Twitter account @MarsCuriosity and hashtag #MSL (for Mars Science Laboratory, the project’s name) and [...]
Twitter has become an important social media tool for reporters. But how do you determine when a conversation warrants a story? And how do we verify the information is accurate? Those were the questions Ken Alltucker of The Arizona Republic faced when he learned of a Twitter conversation between Aetna CEO Mark T. Bertolini and Arijit Guha, [...]
