As you might know, I'm currently reporting from San Francisco's Macworld. Aside from getting access to the latest in technology, it's great to meet journalists from around the world, sharing opinions on the industry and generally getting to know how the rest of the world operates. But for the first time in my career I was absolutely stunned at the behaviour of my international comrades and amazed at the high level of professionalism in our own country.
Steve Jobs' keynote speech is renowned for inspiring a wild reaction from the legions of Apple fans in the audience, yet it was the media section that produced the highest volume of cheers. I'm not talking about polite claps, smiles or a suppressed laughter - these were primal... and creepy. The laughter seemed to have come from a strange idiot-filled dimension, instead of the diaphragm. One journo from New York was cheering so hysterically at the fact that 50% of 'switchers' were Windows users that his photographer asked him if he was alright.
The only people not cheering were the small group of Australian journalists sitting in this strange bizarre-o world.
Now, there are only a few unwritten laws in journalism and one is that we are never openly excited. Ever. Even if we've just seen the most incredible thing in the history of incredible things, we will simply stand there, making notes, asking questions and occasionally smiling politely. Cheering is for PR, marketing people, advertisers, partners, resellers and anyone else that's likely to make money from the product on display. That is, anyone but us.
If we like what we see, then we write it down. And if we write it down then we justify our opinion with experimental evidence or logical arguments. And only then should it get published. This is the cornerstone of IT journalism and must be held paramount in accurate reporting.
My question now is: 'What sort of reporting could possibly result from this?' Clearly, the impartial, unbiased and objective reporting that forms the cornerstone of free media is compromised, and I couldn't possibly imagine that anyone would glean any useful information from these articles.
In light of this, I encourage everyone to be mindful of horrid, biased reporting, particularly with Apple articles. Don't reward bad journalism by visiting the site again, or buying the same paper. And if you do come across glowing reports of products, or wild predictions about Apple's future that aren't backed up with evidence, email the writer and demand that they back up their claims. This perpetual cycle of bad reporting only harms the industry and embarrasses the profession.
And don't get me started on the Apple freaks...