Internet Journalism Class Blog (Part 2): No Shortage in Tech Coverage

By Ivan Huang

Nathan Olivarez-Giles lectures journalism students on the
tricks and trades of modern journalism at CCSF's Mission
Campus. Photo Credit to Patrick Tamayo.

Tech Journalists, Nathan Olivarez-Giles from the Wall Street Journal, Mark Milian from Bloomberg, and Brian Chen from The New York Times came to our internet journalism class on April 15 as guest speakers to discuss and inform journalism students how to be successful in the digital age of journalism.

Giles, a former Wildcat at the University of Arizona started his career in journalism by blogging about his personal interests, which were things that he thought were fun, hip-hop and himself.

Little did Giles know that blogging about things that he had an interest in would lead him to a career in tech journalism, writing and broadcasting videos for the Wall Street Journal's Tech section on their website.

"Journalism is a reflection of your own personal interests," Giles said.

Giles' interest in tech started when his dad built a software company out of their living room where he was able to learn HTML and Javascript, which are computer programming languages that are important for creating webpages or coding.

To get to where he is today, Giles attributes his success due to his work ethic rather than raw talent.

"There's always going to be someone who's better than you," Giles said. "You don't need to be an expert."

Mark Milian and Brian X. Chen try to adjust the screen to
show journalism students their work on the internet. Photo
Credits to Patrick Tamayo.

Milian and Chen later arrived to support their buddy Giles and also gave insights on modern journalism. 

"Journalism is a small world, everybody knows everybody so don't be an ass," Giles said, when talking about networking within the journalism community.

Milian a writer and editor for Bloomberg.com's Global Tech section, and Chen who runs The New York Times' Bits blog, a blog about the business of technology, informed journalism students about their profession and gave them a walk through on their daily job responsibilities.

"With so much money in tech, people will do bad things to get some of it," Milian said. "And that is the best time to be a journalist."

Chen a writer for one of oldest and most respected publications in America, The New York Times, believes the values of traditional journalism is very important through this transition to the digital age.

"(I'm) very proud of the integrity of editors and reporters at The New York Times," Chen said.

The three tech journalists that came to our journalism class are an example of journalists who have made it. 

Writing and reporting about something they are passionate about for these major publications is a dream job for many, and what my fellow journalism students and I have learned is that; like many other professions, a career in journalism requires you to pay your dues in the lower ranks by writing for smaller publications and working your way up and that practice makes perfect.