This article about the power Apple has over how the media reports on their products, is a great read.
Journalist Richard Gutjahr speaks of the control the company has over the media, which was created by their canonised founder Steve Jobs and has continued into Tim Cook’s reign.
He says the press and marketing departments are still under the “spell of fear and control mania” instilled by Jobs.
As a blogger given the nickname “fanboy” for queuing up at the iPad’s launch, Gutjahr has experienced this control first hand, which he says is rarely talked about in the media.
He says he shared notes with “countless colleagues” for the piece, all of whom wanted to remain anonymous for the article, so as not to fall out of grace with Apple.
“In contrast to Apple’s design philosophy, this strategy does not manifest itself through clarity and elegance, but through a subtle and sometimes questionable toying with our, the reporting journalists’, vanities and dependencies.
“If you write positively you’ll be wined and dined, if you criticize, no matter how fairly, you’ll be penalized.”
Gutjahr’s article was originally printed in the crowdfunded German digital news magazine Krautreporter.
Read the piece on Medium here.