STAREAST 2013 Keynote: Asking the Right Questions? What Journalism Can Teach Testers

As the testing discipline continues to evolve—and the demands on testers increase—we need to look for new paradigms to guide our work. Thomas McCoy believes the profession of journalism has much to offer in helping us ask the right kinds of questions, be heard, and deliver bad news effectively. In many ways, our profession has ideals similar to those of journalism: our first obligation should be to the truth, we must maintain independence (even when embedded in agile teams), and our mission includes the protection of society. While not all techniques (such as hacking into the voicemail accounts of developers) would be appropriate, established values like impact, proximity, and timeliness can help guide our communication and make it more succinct and effective. Join Thomas to learn about employing investigative techniques, developing sources, capturing an audience, and writing compelling stories, using proven methods from the world’s second-oldest profession.