1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
|
You don’t need to be an expert on your beat to cover it. That’s why you should be vetting much of what you write about with third parties and primary sources (academia, researchers, etc). That extends to product testing. If a company claims the product does X, we can’t take their word for it.
We don’t have the capacity to send products to a lab for testing, so connecting with experts is an important way to double-check our work.
Check with Zak or our research or science/security team for help.
Over time, you will end up being quite the expert on the topic, but it will take time, research, and coverage to get there. Research is important. If you don’t know about what something means in your beat, look it up!
You should be regularly keeping up to date with your beat via newsfeeds and other publications. You don’t need to read about it when you’re off the clock, but monitoring those topics on Google News/Apple News should be a part of your daily workflow. This can also help you spot trends and write rants or raves (or other timely op-eds).
Research what the top brands are in your beat and make sure they know you’re covering that category for WIRED.
Establish relationships with PR so that they will send you a heads up on new product announcements. You may need to inquire first if you are not on their radar, and you may need to be persistent.
It helps when you have a strong interest in the beat you’re covering, but one way to expand your coverage is to flesh out the questions you might have about your own beat. Chances are your readers are interested as well. It might mean explaining what the materials used in the product are, what certain kinds of specs mean, and so on.
This is a smart and important way to supplement your coverage when you might have some downtime between product announcements.
Pitch fresh ideas around your beat with your editors!
If you don’t think much is going on in your beat, that may or may not be true. Do the Amazon dupes work? Is there news on new materials, sustainability, or are there lawsuits? We have budget to buy items here and there if you need to test these (just ask me).
We should not just be covering good products. If there’s a notable bad product out there, we should call it out.
If you are contributing to someone’s beat by testing a product, make sure you stay in touch with the lead/editor on the review process. If you don’t end up getting the product or can’t do the review anymore, let someone know! Otherwise, we just missed out on covering something potentially important in that space.
Don’t just update your guides—that doesn’t help grow the beat! You should have a mix of how-tos, features, trend stories, rants and raves, reviews, and guides. (Plus deals!)
|
