[Ipg-smz] Marketing as a Journalist and Vice Versa

[Sharon Fisher]

I tend to go along with Jesse Unruh's feelings on the subject, but I don't
journalist and market for the same people anyway.

On Sun, Dec 9, 2018, 12:19 PM <ljkelly1888 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Ah yes, I was hoping for a nice, muddy tl,dr.
>
> Basically, the line is relatively subjective (assuming editors/publishers
> are also on board).
>
> Danke Tom (und alle),
>
> Liam
>
> Sent from Windows Mail
>
> *From:* Tom Henderson
> *Sent:* ‎Sunday‎, ‎December‎ ‎9‎, ‎2018 ‎8‎:‎13‎ ‎PM
> *To:* ipg-smz at netpress.org
>
>
> Liam,
>
> As a freelance, it's possible to do what you want. This topic has been
> covered on this list many times over the past decade.
>
> MY tl;dr is that I'm a researcher and journalist. Others here have broad
> and varied combinations of skillsets, more true "freelancers" in that
> regard, than I. Others are editors, generalists, fiction writers (I've sold
> four of my latest novel!!), non-fiction writers, and a gaggle of combos.
> There are at least three known grammarians (formerly "grammar nazis"), and
> we argue the Oxford comma for grins. I dangle participles and end sentences
> with prepositions to taunt them. I can hear their teeth grinding. There are
> thought and speech police here, too.
>
> I have been known to write for vendor-sponsored publications, but that was
> a passing fancy, and I've vowed to write only for non-vendor sponsored
> publications. When I do research for vendors, they're required to print my
> research intact. When I express opinion, which is frequently, you'll know
> that's opinion vs journalstic-standard-based facts vs marketing prattle and
> foam-and-goo.
>
> The Unbiased Journalist is a figment of your imagination. Subscribing and
> adhering to journalistic standards is a spectacular goal, and many here,
> including I, subscribe to these standards and adhere to them to the best of
> our abilities. In the real world, reporting as a journalist in an unbiased
> way is possible, but to be unbiased is to be an automaton, and none of us
> are those. We may, one day, battle automatons for space in media, and that
> day is coming soon.
>
> Morally, I can do research and publish results based on referential
> standards, facts and findings, (hopefully) poised to a target audience.
> Targeting sales people rather than geeks in data centers are two different
> endeavors. The "general public" are a third set of humans and have
> different needs still.
>
> Having been the guy that had to make what the salesperson promised work, I
> tend to side with the geeks. In tech writing, I can address both audiences,
> but they are composed differently. I distrust vendors and corporations,
> because their goals are not my goals, and often only partially the goals of
> the purchasers of their products and services.
>
> You'll be tempted by vendor money. Editorial pursuits of vendors may be
> highly walled from the vendor's marketing or other departments/functions.
> The taint of bias can be very highly removed, but for some, writing for a
> vendor is verbotten. Others believe that their editorial integrity is not
> besmirched by funding from vendors. They often cite that non-vendor
> pubs/sites are only vaguely separated, and find that this fast blurs the
> distinction. Some do not.
>
> Your comfort and how you sleep at night is something you have to decide.
> Income is your problem. There are tech writers that currently work for
> organizational/corporate internal consumption and are very good at this,
> and do a good and moral job. Moral in the same way that making the best
> burger you can for McDonald's is moral. We all have to eat. Sometimes
> eating defines morality, and sometimes it doesn't.
>
> Sorry to muddy this up for you, but the subsequent replies will attempt to
> give you other and better answers. This is why the IPG community is
> valuable.
>
> Tom
>
>
>
> On 12/9/18 1:41 PM, ljkelly1888 at gmail.com wrote:
>
> Quick question,
>
> I get approached by a ton of different firms asking if I can help them
> with content, copy editing, technical writing, and general writing needs.
>
> The thing is, I consider myself a *journalist* and not a *marketer*.
>
> Perhaps, I’m being a bit too naive, but can I morally take on work for
> private firms to write marketing material for them and continue to present
> myself as an unbiased journalist? I’ve yet to try this out, but as I’m a
> bit of a minnow, maybe there’s another way to think about this dilemma?
>
> Would love a bit of advice on this one.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Liam
>
> Sent from Windows Mail
>
>
> --
> Tom Henderson
> ExtremeLabs, Inc.
> +1 317 250 4646
> Twitter: @extremelabs
> Skype: extremelabsinc
>
> --
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>
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