{"id":118,"date":"2019-07-20T13:26:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-20T17:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnzhu.com\/blog\/?p=118"},"modified":"2019-07-20T13:26:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-20T17:26:00","slug":"10-steps-to-writing-a-new-york-times-culture-piece-on-new-publishing-mediums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnzhu.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/20\/10-steps-to-writing-a-new-york-times-culture-piece-on-new-publishing-mediums\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Steps to Writing A New York Times Culture Piece on New Publishing Mediums"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Stock Image from Pexels<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations on being assigned to write a piece for the New York Times on the newest fad in publishing mediums (OK, it’s been around for at least a decade but we at the Times just started using it in the last year or two) that is (ugh) open to everyone. It seems like you can’t take two steps around New York without tripping over some amateur who’s pumping out content on this medium for the world to see. So we want you to dig into the culture and the people behind this strange phenomenon and explore what inexplicable compulsions would drive these odd birds into pretending they can do what we professional journalists do, and what it means for society (invariably something bad, we assume). We understand it’s a big topic, so to help you get started, here are 10 easy steps that will ensure you deliver a piece consistent with the Times’ tone and standards, along with a couple examples for reference. Happy reporting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Employ an anecdotal lede with an extreme example.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2004 <\/strong>(“For Some, The Blogging Never Stops”<\/a>):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To celebrate four years of marriage, Richard Wiggins and his wife, Judy Matthews, recently spent a week in Key West, Fla. Early on the morning of their anniversary, Ms. Matthews heard her husband get up and go into the bathroom. He stayed there for a long time.<\/p>

”I didn’t hear any water running, so I wondered what was going on,” Ms. Matthews said. When she knocked on the door, she found him seated with his laptop balanced on his knees, typing into his Web log, a collection of observations about the technical world, over a wireless link.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2019<\/strong> (“Have We Hit Peak Podcast?”<\/a>):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, Morgan Mandriota and Lester Lee, two freelance writers looking to grow their personal brands, decided to start a podcast. They called it \u201cThe Advice Podcast\u201d and put about as much energy into the show\u2019s production as they did the name. (After all, no one was paying them for this. Yet.) Each week, the friends, neither of whom had professional experience dispensing advice, met in a free room at the local library and recorded themselves chatting with an iPhone 5.<\/p>

\u201cWe assumed we\u2019d be huge, have affiliate marketing deals and advertisements,\u201d Ms. Mandriota said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Cite an impressive sounding number to show how “everyone” is on this newfangled thing.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2004:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technorati, a blog-tracking service, has counted some 2.5 million blogs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2019:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are now upward of 700,000 podcasts, according to the podcast production and hosting service Blubrry, with between 2,000 and 3,000 new shows launching each month.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. You’ve set them up, now knock ’em down with a splash of journalistic cold water. Point out that most creations on this new medium are quickly abandoned …<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2004:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, most of those millions are abandoned or, at best, maintained infrequently. For many bloggers, the novelty soon wears off and their persistence fades.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2019:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet the frequency with which podcasts start (and then end, or \u201cpodfade,\u201d as it\u2019s coming to be known in the trade) has produced a degree of cultural exhaustion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. … and that nobody is actually consuming this stuff …<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2004:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, too, the realization that no one is reading sets in. … By Jupiter Research’s estimate, only 4 percent of online users read blogs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2019:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe thing about podcasts,\u201d Dr. North added, \u201cis that it\u2019s very, very hard to determine popularity. It\u2019s easy for the host to appear to be an influencer. And whether anybody finds that podcast or listens to it and the bounce rate \u2014 who knows?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. … and that they don’t make any money.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2004:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nor is he deterred by the fact that he toils for hours at a time on his blog for no money. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2019:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe assumed we\u2019d be huge, have affiliate marketing deals and advertisements,\u201d Ms. Mandriota said.<\/p>

But six episodes in, when neither Casper mattresses nor MeUndies had come knocking, the friends quit. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. So WHY do these people do it? Might it be narcissism? Imply the answer is at least partly narcissism. (Greed is good, too.)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2004:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, if a blog is likened to a conversation between a writer and readers, bloggers like Mr. Wiggins are having conversations largely with themselves.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2019:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing a podcast host plays into people\u2019s self-importance,\u201d said Karen North, a clinical professor of communication at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. This is like a condition. They should really have that looked at.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2004:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some, it becomes an obsession. Such bloggers often feel compelled to write several times daily and feel anxious if they don’t keep up. As they spend more time hunkered over their computers, they neglect family, friends and jobs. They blog at home, at work and on the road. They blog openly or sometimes, like Mr. Wiggins, quietly so as not to call attention to their habit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2019:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jordan Harbinger, host of \u201cThe Jordan Harbinger Show\u201d podcast, thinks there is a \u201cpodcast industrial complex.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Penultimate section: Hey, here’s someone who saw the light and quit.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2004:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suffering from a similar form of ”blog fatigue,” Bill Barol, a freelance writer in Santa Monica, Calif., simply stopped altogether after four years of nearly constant blogging.<\/p>

”It was starting to feel like work, and it was never supposed to be a job,” Mr. Barol said. ”It was supposed to be an anti-job.”<\/p>

Even with some 200 visitors to his blog each day, he has not posted to his blog since returning from a month of travel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2019:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, David Burkus, a tech and business writer and former podcaster stopped producing his podcast when it became clear he wasn\u2019t attracting new listeners. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t go back to podcasts in any form \u2014 certainly not in interview form,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. End with “yet they just can’t stay away” example. (There’s no hope for these people!)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2004:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, Mr. Barol said, he does not rule out a return to blogging someday.<\/p>

”There is this seductive thing that happens, this kind of snowball-rolling-down-a-hill thing, where the sheer momentum of several years’ posting becomes very keenly felt,” he said. ”And the absence of posting feels like — I don’t know, laziness or something.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2019:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Ms. Mandriota is giving podcasting another go. Her new attempt is an interview-style show about sex and relationships called \u201cHard and Deep,\u201d and she\u2019s committed to a longer run than \u201cThe Advice Podcast.\u201d (If she succeeds, she\u2019ll be in the minority; between March and May of this year, only 19.3 percent of existing podcasts introduced a new episode, according to Blubrry.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Now refine your piece by increasing the snark level by 20%. Some shade-casting clever turn of phrase usually does the trick.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2004:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

never have so many people written so much to be read by so few.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2019:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re not necessarily sick of listening to interesting programs; but we\u2019re definitely tired of hearing from every friend, relative and co-worker who thinks they\u2019re just an iPhone recording away from creating the next \u201cSerial.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n

PERFECTION!!<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

Note: This post was spurred by the New York Times’ <\/em>story on “peak podcast.”<\/em><\/a> More thoughts on that piece <\/em>on my Twitter feed<\/em><\/a>, where I also spend too much time in addition to this blog and my podcasts (it’s probably the narcissism). Hey, can I be in the next Times story?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congratulations on being assigned to write a piece for the New York Times on the newest fad in publishing mediums (OK, it’s been around for at least a decade but we at the Times just started using it in the last year or two) that is (ugh) open to everyone. It seems like you can’t… Continue reading 10 Steps to Writing A New York Times Culture Piece on New Publishing Mediums<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journalism","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnzhu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnzhu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnzhu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnzhu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnzhu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/johnzhu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnzhu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnzhu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnzhu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}