Got Hired by the New York Times
April 1st, 2008 by Michael Kwan
As much as I enjoy the relative freedom of being a freelance writer, the opportunity was just too much to turn down. The New York Times has offered me a permanent full-time position as a technology columnist, focusing primarily on consumer electronics like the Apple iPhone, Asus Eee PC, and Nintendo Wii. I guess it helps when you leverage your reputation, because the NYT found me through my work on such sites as The TechZone, Mobile Magazine, and FutureLooks.
For the first few months, I will be working under the guidance of David Pogue, who is the current personal technology columnist for the New York Times. Pogue told the Times that he wanted more time to work on other projects, so they went looking for his successor. They haven’t given any sort of guarantee just yet, but things are looking bright. The plan is to fly me out to New York at the end of the month so that I can meet with David Pogue and the rest of the New York Times team in person. Up until now, all correspondence has been via email and telephone.
I’ve been trying to keep it fresh as a freelance writer, but I feel like it’s time for me to explore other pastures. A move to a huge city like New York could do me some good and it will expose me to all sorts of new experiences. I’ve never worked at a real newspaper before, which the exception of a student newsletter, so it should be really exciting and a lot of fun.
In addition to the weekly column, I’ll also be taking over David Pogue’s weekly video segment as well, as this typically ties in with his written article in the newspaper. They didn’t give any exact details yet, but I think that Pogue has access to a real production team for those videos. No more editing for me!
Although I’ll fundamentally be doing the same thing as I’m doing right now — writing about technology — it should prove to be a lighter workload for more money. I’d imagine that there are some back-end things to take care of, but producing one column a week sounds a lot easier than writing several blog posts each day. Forget becoming a dot com mogul; I’m perfectly satisfied raking in the dough as part of corporate America.
Wish me luck! Writing for the New York Times will certainly help to establish me in mainstream media.
Filed under Technology.
Congrats and have fun on your new adventure in New York!
Will we then be seeing less of you in action here at btr?
If this is real, you shouldn’t have posted about it on April 1st. I don’t know what to believe. lol
Good luck!
Don’t forget us.
Agreed, Chris. Everywhere I go, I’m reading crazy things and then reminded myself what day it is. Of course, if it is true, congratulations!
Brian Griffin is going to be jealous!
It’s an April Fool’s hoax, but a very subtle and clever one.
Trust me: The day I say I’m leaving the Times “to work on other projects” will be a cold day in Hell indeed.
–Pogue
Michael, I’ve hit the wall with the April Fool’s jokes and have had enough.
Since you have been a friend of my community and I have really enjoyed your blog and writing, I felt that I owed it to you to say that your blog would be removed from my RSS reader and I will not be coming back for more.
As much as I will miss your writing, it is something that I just have to do.
And a happy April Fool’s Day to you too, Derek.
No worries Derek, I’ll spit in Michael’s pho for you next Saturday.
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Sweet…you gonna charge me for that or is it on the house this time?