The Techlash and Tech Crisis Communication

By: Nirit Weiss-Blatt

Narrated by: Peter J. Borys

This audiobook provides an in-depth analysis of the evolution of tech journalism. The emerging tech-backlash is a story of pendulum swings: We are currently in tech-dystopianism, after a long period spent in tech-utopianism. Tech companies were used to 'cheerleading' coverage of product launches. This long tech-press honeymoon ended, and was replaced by a new era of mounting criticism, focused on tech's negative impact on society. When - and why - did tech coverage shift? How did tech companies respond to the rise of tech criticism?

This audiobook depicts three main eras: 'Pre-Techlash', 'Techlash', and 'Post-Techlash'. The listener is taken on a journey from computer magazines, through tech blogs, to the upsurge in tech investigative reporting. It illuminates the profound changes in the power dynamics between the media and the tech giants it covers.

The interplay between tech journalism and tech PR was underexplored. Through analyses of both the tech media and corporates' crisis responses, this audiobook examines the roots and characteristics of the 'Techlash', and provides explanations to 'How did we get here'? Insightful observations by tech journalists and tech public relations professionals are added to the research data, and together, they tell the story of the 'Techlash'. It includes theoretical and practical implications, for both tech enthusiasts and critics.

©2021 Nirit Weiss-Blatt (P)2022 Nirit Weiss-Blatt