Paris Martineau, an investigative tech reporter known for her impactful work leading to CEO resignations, dives into the shifting dynamics between the tech industry and journalism. She discusses the growing tensions and adversarial views toward the media from Silicon Valley. Martineau highlights the challenges of sourcing information, navigating trust, and the disillusionment within tech culture. She reflects on the ethical tensions in venture capital and how technological influence shapes political engagement, underscoring the crucial role of journalism in holding powerful tech companies accountable.
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insights INSIGHT
Tech's Antagonism Toward Journalists
Tech employees harbor a deep antagonism toward journalists, making sourcing very difficult.
Many tech workers embrace a cultural identity opposing the press, complicating journalistic access.
question_answer ANECDOTE
PR Teams Intentionally Block Journalists
A communications person at a big tech company admitted her job was to keep journalists at a distance.
This candid revelation showed how PR teams intentionally frustrate reporters’ attempts to gain access.
insights INSIGHT
Tech Workers’ Loyalty And Satisfaction
Product managers in tech often believe wholeheartedly in their product and earn high salaries.
Unlike political staffers, they feel motivated and valued, reducing their incentive to leak information.
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It used to be that being a tech journalist was about boosterism and gadgetry. Now it’s like reporting inside the Pentagon, if the Pentagon were staffed by incredibly motivated and secretive experts who are regularly reassured they’re doing holy work, threatened with exile if they ever speak to a reporter, and paid more than any journalist can imagine.
And yet investigative tech reporter Paris Martineau has single-handedly conducted investigations that led to the resignation of multiple CEOs — no small feat in an industry that is famously difficult to pierce as a journalist. In this hourlong interview we talk about how hard it is to find good sources inside Big Tech, and how critically important it is to do that now, when those companies and their leaders are truly learning to run the world.
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