Telling the tech story

In this episode, Patrick McKenzie (patio11) and Erik Torenberg, investor and the media entrepreneur behind Turpentine, explore the evolving relationship between tech journalism and the industry it covers. They discuss how fictional portrayals of industries greatly inform how jobseekers understand those industries, and how the industries understand themselves.

They cover the vacuum in quality tech reporting, the emergence of independent media companies, and industry heavyweights with massive followings. Patrick also brings up the phenomenon of Twitter/Slack crossovers, where coordinated social media action is used to influence internal company policies and public narratives. They examine how this dynamic, combined with economic pressures and ideological motivations, has led to increased groupthink in tech journalism.

Expanding on themes covered in Kelsey Piper’s episode of Complex Systems, this conversation makes more legible the important ways media affects tech, even though tech is arguably a more sophisticated industry – and why there is a need to move beyond simplistic narratives of "holding power accountable" to provide nuanced, informative coverage that helps people understand tech’s impact on society.

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Full transcript available here: https://www.complexsystemspodcast.com/episodes/tech-media-erik-torenberg

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Links:

Bits About Money, “Fiction and Finance” https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/fiction-about-finance/

Byrne Hobart’s essay on The Social Network https://byrnehobart.medium.com/the-social-network-was-the-most-important-movie-of-all-time-9f91f66018d7
Kelsey Piper on Complex Systems https://open.spotify.com/episode/33rHTZVowaq76tCTaKJfRB

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Twitter:
@patio11
@eriktorenberg

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(00:27) Fiction and Finance: The power of narrative

(01:41) The Social Network's impact on career choices

(03:34) Cultural perceptions and entrepreneurship

(06:04) Media influence and tech industry perception

(11:01) The role of tech journalism

(14:15) Social media's impact on journalism

(19:39) Sponsors: WorkOS | Check

(21:54) The intersection of media and tech

(39:22) Public intellectualism in tech

(57:40) Wrap

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Complex Systems is part of the Turpentine podcast network. Turpentine also has a social network for top founders and execs: https://www.turpentinenetwork.com/