Read on Twitter
Did some thinking about this today.
I have a pretty realistic understanding of the challenges in pop culture journalism.
Even when I don't know the people involved, I can usually guess how a flawed article got published, so I rarely perceive them as trying to be authoritative https://twitter.com/frog_kun/status/1341578652014690304
I have a pretty realistic understanding of the challenges in pop culture journalism.
Even when I don't know the people involved, I can usually guess how a flawed article got published, so I rarely perceive them as trying to be authoritative https://twitter.com/frog_kun/status/1341578652014690304
The people who write for these outlets are usually geeks who know a lot about the thing they're into. In that regard they're not much different from anyone else in the online fandom sphere.
The problem is when they're tasked with writing about something they're not as into
The problem is when they're tasked with writing about something they're not as into
"Why didn't they get a person who knows a lot about the Thing to write about it?"
The person probably did know a lot about a Thing, and then because they were good at writing about that Thing, they got told to write about another Thing that they know less about.
The person probably did know a lot about a Thing, and then because they were good at writing about that Thing, they got told to write about another Thing that they know less about.
From the perspective of an editor, you want someone who is good at writing and can meet the deadlines. When a new Thing comes along, you ask someone you know and trust to write about it, since it's less time-consuming than head-hunting fans who may not be good at actual writing
I, personally, have a desire to be picky about what I write about. I know my own limitations. I don't like to take on a project with a scope that would take too much additional research to do properly. I see stuff like this and know that if I tried it, I wouldn't be better
So I guess if I had advice for those outlets, it would be "If you want to raise the quality overall, you have to acknowledge that even your best writers can't be used as a one-size-fits-all. Every writer has strengths and specialties. There is no 'Japanese pop culture expert'."
