How Does One Become a Tech Journalist?" by Lucie Ronfaut, Tech Journalist @FigaroTech Abstract : How does one become a journalist? How does a newsroom work? How can someone who doesn't code write articles about tech companies? Lucie Ronfaut will talk about the clichés and truths of being a very-much tech driven journalist in 2018, and how tech stories always have a human side, starting with "la Menstrutech", one of her favorite topics.

1. How does one become
a tech journalist?
WiMLDS Paris - Nov 29.

2. My name is Lucie
Ronfaut and I’ve
covered tech at Le
Figaro for almost six
years!
@LucieRonfaut + @FigaroTech
lronfaut@lefigaro.fr

3. Cliché #1 :
Journalists are pricks from
SciencesPo who think they
know your job better than
you do.

4. How to become a journalist?
TL;DR it’s hard
1) The “regular” way: go to uni for three years, then enter a journalism
school. There are 14 in France which are “recognized” throughout the
profession (ex: école de journalisme de SciencesPo, ESJ, IPJ, Celsa, IJBA,
etc). But others exist as well!

5. How to become a journalist?
TL;DR it’s hard
1) The “regular” way: go to uni for three years, then enter a journalism
school. There are 14 in France which are “recognized” throughout the
profession (ex: école de journalisme de SciencesPo, ESJ, IPJ, Celsa, IJBA,
etc). But others exist as well.
2) The other ways: literally do anything else, then become a journalist
anyway!

7. “A lot of the criticism
around the biggest issues
has been fair, but I do
think that we have a
different world view than
some of the folks who are
covering us”
Mark Zuckerberg, CNN (21.11.2018)

8. Good journalists don’t know
everything, but know who to ask
when they want to understand
something.

9. Cliché #2 :
Medias only care about
clickbaits

10. “Something (such
as a headline)
designed to make
readers want to
click on a
hyperlink
especially when
the link leads to
content of
dubious value or
interest”

11. “How do you choose what to
write about every morning?”

12. 1) News of the day

13. 2) News of the day that aren’t tech related, but that
have a tech angle.

14. 3) Stories that I have heard of from sources, and that I
have been working on for days/weeks/etc.

15. 4) Things we can plan ahead
● Tests and reviews of
phones, computers,
gadgets, etc
● Interviews
● Content related to an
event (ex: gift guide for
Christmas, what to
expect of an Apple
keynote, etc)

16. What I care about
“So tell me what you want, what you really, really want “ - Spice
Girls
● Where I will publish my article (print and Web doesn’t
have the same format, or the same audience)
● What my readers want to know (popular topics) but
also what I think they will want to know
● How to reach them (choosing a good timing, SEO, etc)
This is where
“clickbait” can
happen

17. Cliché #3 :
People don’t care about tech
outside of Facebook and
iPhone

23. People care about :
New gadgets

24. People care about :
New gadgets
Their privacy

25. People care about :
New gadgets
Their privacy
Their children and their
relationship to technologies

26. People care about :
New gadgets
Their privacy
Their children and their
relationship to technologies
The power of big companies

27. People care about :
New gadgets
Their privacy
Their children and their
relationship to technologies
The power of big companies
French companies

28. People care about :
New gadgets
Their privacy
Their children and their
relationship to technologies
The power of big companies
French companies
French laws about tech and
the Internet

29. People care about :
New gadgets
Their privacy
Their children and their
relationship to technologies
The power of big companies
French companies
French laws about tech and
the Internet
Social networks and how
they work
ETC...

30. Cliché #4 :
Tech is about hardware
and/or software, and
nothing else

31. Tech isn’t
≠

32. Tech isn’t
≠
or
<

33. Tech isn’t
≠
or
<
It’s more
like x

34. Examples of the importance of the “human
factor” in tech stories
Why is the lack of women in tech companies, especially in
technical jobs, an issue not only morally, but also in terms of
making good products and good business?
Why are some AI programs racist or sexist?
How can we design ethical websites, apps, softwares?
But also: tech’s influence on politics, ecology, love, etc...

35. One last example for the road:
“Menstrutech”

36. Some apps:
⬅ Clue
Flo
Maya
Glow
Eve...

37. One topic, many angles
What are the companies behind those apps?
Who are the Mentrutech entrepreneurs?
How much is worth the Femtech industry?

38. One topic, many angles
Why has tech waited so long to care about our
periods?
How hard is it to raise money for a company that
focuses on technologies related to female health?

39. One topic, many angles
Where do our datas go?
Can those apps really teach us about our bodies,
or are we putting yet again another part of our daily
lives in a tech “black box” that we do not
understand?

40. Thank you!
@LucieRonfaut + @FigaroTech
lronfaut@lefigaro.fr