So I want to get into tech journalism...

[Unpractical]

And I was just wondering if anybody had prior experience with any sort of journalism even if it's not related, and had any tips and advice on starting out. I don't really have money in the bank to do major things, except maybe write hypothetically articles, or just talking about something with no experience about what I'm talking about. 

[Manny Calavera]

Try to work your way up to the top companies like PCGamer.

Youtube is good and easy way to get noticed. You could have like weekly news 5 minute video. But in that 5 min video you obviously invest houres. Then you could have site when you go in detail with certain topics in written form.

[Unpractical]

Try to work your way up to the top companies like PCGamer.

Youtube is good and easy way to get noticed. You could have like weekly news 5 minute video. But in that 5 min video you obviously invest houres. Then you could have site when you go in detail with certain topics in written form.

Well I'm just not sure how to start. In a way i'm sort of direction-less not having any experience to look back on and start with.

[Guest]

I don't know but a good way to hone your writing skills is obviously going to be blogging. I'd say start a blog, make a youtube channel and make videos even if at first no one watches them, show that you can do rigorous research (if only to yourself), build a portfolio like that, or perhaps just experience which will obviously come in handy.

 

Good luck.

[Syntaxvgm]

I came in here expecting 

 

Hi I wnt to be a tch blooger I likes the pcs so mhz lolz

But instead found good English. Mostly.

 

 

And I was just wondering if anybody had prior experience with any sort of journalism even if it's not related, and had any tips and advice on starting out. I don't really have money in the bank to do major things, except maybe write hypothetically articles, or just talking about something with no experience about what I'm talking about. 

Work on it a bit. I know this a forum, so that could just be an innocent mistake like we all make here. Especially me, with my soft gaming laptop keyboard. 

 

I don't know where to start honestly. If I had more time, it is something I would enjoy doing on the side myself. 

If you have any college education and/or experience, I'd start by getting a good resume together. 

A good rule of thumb is to not only pay attention to what is correct, but pay attention to how it rolls off of the tongue. It is important to avoid things that read weird, even if they are right. Get the flow down if you know what I mean. 

[Unpractical]

I came in here expecting 

But instead found good English. Mostly.

Work on it a bit. I know this a forum, so that could just be an innocent mistake like we all make here. Especially me, with my soft gaming laptop keyboard. 

 

I don't know where to start honestly. If I had more time, it is something I would enjoy doing on the side myself. 

If you have any college education and/or experience, I'd start by getting a good resume together. 

A good rule of thumb is to not only pay attention to what is correct, but pay attention to how it rolls off of the tongue. It is important to avoid things that read weird, even if they are right. Get the flow down if you know what I mean. 

I thought your comment hilarious! And yes I know what you mean about writing to good, and the reason my last comment didn't read well is because I wrote it as soon as I woke up. Probably not the best thing to do now that I think about it... 

 

And I'm not quite to there to the college level yet, and I want to start early so I can get a head start. 

[Syntaxvgm]

I thought your comment hilarious! And yes I know what you mean about writing to good, and the reason my last comment didn't read well is because I wrote it as soon as I woke up. Probably not the best thing to do now that I think about it... 

 

And I'm not quite to there to the college level yet, and I want to start early so I can get a head start.

Well I've done quite a few college papers. Consider this a free tutoring session. :lol:

[Unpractical]

Well I've done quite a few college papers. Consider this a free tutoring session. :lol:

oh! Well then.. I saved some money I can save towards a new graphics card. Thanks! 

[Syntaxvgm]

oh! Well then.. I saved some money I can save towards a new graphics card. Thanks!

oh! Well then.. I saved some money that I can save towards a new graphics card. Thanks!

or

oh! Well then.. I saved some money I can put towards a new graphics card. Thanks!

or

oh! Well then.. I saved some money for a new graphics card. Thanks!

Using "save" multiple times so close together sounds odd.

 

:lol:

[Chansey]

There's a channel called How I Became on YouTube that interviewed Linus about the same kinds of things you're asking. He said a major advantage he had was working somewhere (NCIX) that gave him access to tons of hardware to review. Perhaps try finding work at an established tech place to get more hands on stuff to talk about?

[Unpractical]

There's a channel called How I Became on YouTube that interviewed Linus about the same kinds of things you're asking. He said a major advantage he had was working somewhere (NCIX) that gave him access to tons of hardware to review. Perhaps try finding work at an established tech place to get more hands on stuff to talk about?

Well that's one thing I could do. There's a fry's near me, but it's about an hour away to drive. Maybe if I work at some retail tech store, they'd have excess products, or refurbished items I could borrow or use. 

[Unpractical]

There's a channel called How I Became on YouTube that interviewed Linus about the same kinds of things you're asking. He said a major advantage he had was working somewhere (NCIX) that gave him access to tons of hardware to review. Perhaps try finding work at an established tech place to get more hands on stuff to talk about?

Actually, I managed to write something, http://unpracticaltech.wordpress.com/2014/07/25/the-nvidia-shield-tablet-powerful-successor-or-expensive-gimmick/  

[GrmanRodriguez]

Hi, first you have to decide if you want to write or talk in YouTube, on YouTube it's easier to get recognized but harder to produce content. If you decide for YouTube I have a few suggestions based on what I like and don't like of YouTube journalists:

First invest in a good microphone han a good camera, I can stand with ok image quality on a video but bad audio quality is a big turn off for me and I usually leave mid way if the audio is awful, plus, it's cheaper to buy a high end microphone than a camera . Also try to show yourself and no be hidden from the camera, people enjoy seeing who is talking to them. Try to make content that shows who you are, stuff like reviews, rants, opinion videos is something that can set you apart from others, specially if your opinions are intriguing or thought provoking, people seem to really enjoy top 5s and top 10s (if you don't believe me look up "Watchmojo" on YouTube) but stuff like builds and news while great can be generic if you don't add something to make it more you. Making stuff in one take can be difficult and tedious for someone watching, don't be afraid to edit. And finally try to make even a simple albeit short intro and outro.

That's all I can think of right now, if you want to write however I can't add much (but I love the look of your site btw)

[Chansey]

Hi, first you have to decide if you want to write or talk in YouTube, on YouTube it's easier to get recognized but harder to produce content.

That's a good point. Do you want to make reviews, cover news stories, or something else entirely? Would you rather use YouTube or a text based blog? Thinking through these questions might help you figure out where to go from here. 

 

A good rule of thumb is to not only pay attention to what is correct, but pay attention to how it rolls off of the tongue. It is important to avoid things that read weird, even if they are right. Get the flow down if you know what I mean. 

This. People will probably judge your content based on the first thing they read, so make sure everything is polished! Reading it out loud to a friend is a fantastic way to uncover and fix those parts that just don't sound right. 

[Unpractical]

Hi, first you have to decide if you want to write or talk in YouTube, on YouTube it's easier to get recognized but harder to produce content. If you decide for YouTube I have a few suggestions based on what I like and don't like of YouTube journalists:

First invest in a good microphone han a good camera, I can stand with ok image quality on a video but bad audio quality is a big turn off for me and I usually leave mid way if the audio is awful, plus, it's cheaper to buy a high end microphone than a camera . Also try to show yourself and no be hidden from the camera, people enjoy seeing who is talking to them. Try to make content that shows who you are, stuff like reviews, rants, opinion videos is something that can set you apart from others, specially if your opinions are intriguing or thought provoking, people seem to really enjoy top 5s and top 10s (if you don't believe me look up "Watchmojo" on YouTube) but stuff like builds and news while great can be generic if you don't add something to make it more you. Making stuff in one take can be difficult and tedious for someone watching, don't be afraid to edit. And finally try to make even a simple albeit short intro and outro.

That's all I can think of right now, if you want to write however I can't add much (but I love the look of your site btw)

Well the site isn't that amazing, it's just a basic wordpress free blog template. But it works for nice, and is sleek enough to not look like an html beginner's attempt at a website. 

[Vacsol]

I think you could start by learning as much as you can about current products, learn where to find information about new products, then get some journalism practice by making some informative posts in our Tech News and Reviews section of the forum.

[Unpractical]

That's a good point. Do you want to make reviews, cover news stories, or something else entirely? Would you rather use YouTube or a text based blog? Thinking through these questions might help you figure out where to go from here. 

 

 

Well, I'm not sure what exactly I want to do. I mean, doing all of the above would be nice, I really wouldn't want to limit myself to just one thing. And I was thinking that, I could write my stories, or whatever I do first, then port them over to a video where I use what I wrote as something like a script. 

[Unpractical]

I think you could start by learning as much as you can about current products, learn where to find information about new products, then get some journalism practice by making some informative posts in our Tech News and Reviews section of the forum.

And one of my previous replies, included a link to a blog I started to practice writing. http://unpracticaltech.wordpress.com/ so I am going to be practicing for sure. 

[Unpractical]

Also, youtubers like teksyndicate inspire me, and have a work layout similar to what I'd be interested in doing. Not exactly like them, but they do a little bit of everything. 

[DigitalHermit]

And one of my previous replies, included a link to a blog I started to practice writing. http://unpracticaltech.wordpress.com/ so I am going to be practicing for sure. 

 

I read through it and saw some minor errors... Somehow, it lacks personality (or I'm just used to reading from johnnyguru)... I think that as much as a review needs to be informative, it also needs to be somewhat entertaining (like Linus or Barnacules)...

 

Also, I'm having a similar dilemma as you... I want to start off but I don't even have a decent camera to show off the stuff I'll be reviewing (bottom of the barrel phones, surprisingly good less known stuff, and other stuff)...

[Unpractical]

I read through it and saw some minor errors... Somehow, it lacks personality (or I'm just used to reading from johnnyguru)... I think that as much as a review needs to be informative, it also needs to be somewhat entertaining (like Linus or Barnacules)...

 

Also, I'm having a similar dilemma as you... I want to start off but I don't even have a decent camera to show off the stuff I'll be reviewing (bottom of the barrel phones, surprisingly good less known stuff, and other stuff)...

Well I figure personality and the what-not come with time and experience. 

[ShadowCaptain]

Well I figure personality and the what-not come with time and experience. 

 

Not true, you either have personality, or you do not

 

That said you might become better in time at expressing it or finding ways of incorporating your personality in writing (a skill few posses)

 

The best tech journalists generally try put some emotion into things, maybe they are super cynical, perhaps they are a bit of an arse, maybe they are humorous but each one has something to add to the article.

 

Just writing words about a product are not enough, nobody wants to read a fact sheet. For a start it sounds like you are reporting, like you would read in a newspaper.

 

Even something little like "Another product announced along with with the shield tablet is the new xbox shield controller", something like that just adds a little humour and shows that you are aware of other tech products, proving you are knowledgeable and humorous

 

Example, one of my favourites is Alistair Dabbs who writes for the register, here is his review on the kindle fire http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/08/review_amazon_kindle_fire_hd/

 

this is one paragraph from the article that sums up what I was trying to say

 

"Picture someone on a station platform waiting for a train, whipping out a mini tablet and then clumsily turning it in all directions, peering closely at each edge until he's found out how to switch it on. He might look like a dick but unfortunately that's what you'll look like too."

[Unpractical]

Not true, you either have personality, or you do not

 

That said you might become better in time at expressing it or finding ways of incorporating your personality in writing (a skill few posses)

 

The best tech journalists generally try put some emotion into things, maybe they are super cynical, perhaps they are a bit of an arse, maybe they are humorous but each one has something to add to the article.

 

Just writing words about a product are not enough, nobody wants to read a fact sheet. For a start it sounds like you are reporting, like you would read in a newspaper.

 

Even something little like "Another product announced along with with the shield tablet is the new xbox shield controller", something like that just adds a little humour and shows that you are aware of other tech products, proving you are knowledgeable and humorous

 

Example, one of my favourites is Alistair Dabbs who writes for the register, here is his review on the kindle fire http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/08/review_amazon_kindle_fire_hd/

 

this is one paragraph from the article that sums up what I was trying to say

 

"Picture someone on a station platform waiting for a train, whipping out a mini tablet and then clumsily turning it in all directions, peering closely at each edge until he's found out how to switch it on. He might look like a dick but unfortunately that's what you'll look like too."

Well, being too opinionated was something I was worried about. I figured trying to go more towards an objective viewpoint would be better, but I suppose it's not. But then again, if I'm going to give my opinions, it'll be pretty difficult to be interesting, while still being neutral on the whole thing. So I shouldn't be worried about writing what's on my mind about a certain topic, and that could even benefit me if I turn it into something funny or thoughtful into my work.

[DigitalHermit]

Well, being too opinionated was something I was worried about. I figured trying to go more towards an objective viewpoint would be better, but I suppose it's not. But then again, if I'm going to give my opinions, it'll be pretty difficult to be interesting, while still being neutral on the whole thing. So I shouldn't be worried about writing what's on my mind about a certain topic, and that could even benefit me if I turn it into something funny or thoughtful into my work.

 

You're going to write a review so being opinionated is nearly unavoidable... An objective review usually ends up looking like a spec sheet imo... Look at how Linus and Jack do their reviews... Lots of character with a slight tinge of opinion while still considering the tastes of people...

[ShadowCaptain]

Well, being too opinionated was something I was worried about. I figured trying to go more towards an objective viewpoint would be better, but I suppose it's not. But then again, if I'm going to give my opinions, it'll be pretty difficult to be interesting, while still being neutral on the whole thing. So I shouldn't be worried about writing what's on my mind about a certain topic, and that could even benefit me if I turn it into something funny or thoughtful into my work.

 

In my opinion the whole point of a reviewing something is to give your opinion on it, anybody can list a spec sheet, but its your opinion of those specs that matter. The reason Linus is so effective is that his opinion is trusted, he says something like "noctua are best" and suddently everyone that watches him shares this opinion. That is the power a personality can have.

 

If he just listed some specs about airflow, showed them on camera and left it at that, then nobody would really care. People follow a website/blogger/journalist/company because they trust the opinion of the reviewers or find them entertaining