Journalist and Technical Writer: Two Sides of the Same Coin

You may be familiar with the day in the life of a journalist because journalists are often portrayed in movies. But what about the day in the life of a technical writer? A technical what? Oh them. Don't they write that computer manual you're forced to read when you can't figure out how to make your computer work? How boring. Movies aren't usually made about technical writers.

If somebody asked which job you would most like to do, you might think it was a no-brainer-journalist, of course. But, according to some web sites and blogs, journalists today are angry. With cutbacks and eliminations, journalists still employed are often overworked and underpaid.

Now that sounds an awful lot like life for today's technical writer. When everybody jumped onboard to become a technical writer back in the technology boom of the 1990s, nobody expected the dot com bust; eliminating many jobs, leaving those still employed overworked and underpaid-bursting their highly-paid bubble. And with more and more jobs being transferred overseas, recovery of the industry doesn't seem to be anywhere in sight.

In case you're still interested in pursuing either one of these professions, you should know that there are more similarities between journalism and technical documentation than these. The actual day-to-day routine of a journalist is similar to a technical writer. For example, take a look at these five areas where the life of a journalist is similar to the life of a technical writer.

Interviewing

You may be familiar with the life of a journalist revolving around interviewing people for stories. You may not be as familiar with what goes on in the average day of a technical writer, but interviewing the subject matter expert (SME) is a crucial part of the job. How else will you collect information to ensure your documentation is accurate?

Writing

Naturally, writing is an important part of a journalist's job as well as an important part of a technical writer's job. In fact, many pursue either career because they love to write and envision themselves sitting all day in front of their keyboard doing just that-writing. But sometimes writing is a small part of their day.

Editing

In both journalism and technical writing, not only are you expected to edit your own work, but you must be open to an editor or another writer. While few technology companies have the luxury of hiring full-time editors these days, you are edited by a peer in many cases (called "peer-editing."). And while being edited by the editor of a newspaper or magazine is standard procedure, some journalists are angry when they feel their editor is editing their work overzealously, as expressed on AngryJournalist.com.

Researching

Besides interviewing people, there are other tasks involved to gathering information. A journalist may have to do some background research on a company, product, or a person. A technical writer may spend a large portion of their time actually using the technology they need to write about. Technical skills or an interest in technology is key here.

Keeping up with Technology

But technical writers aren't the only ones who have to keep up with technology. Lisa Williams wrote an interesting blog post called Ten Things Journalists Should Know About Surviving in a High Tech Industry. Here is where the life of a journalist and a technical writer converge. Both are equally affected by the use of technology and by the practices of technology in today's global economy. And these techniques can equip you to survive in either industry.