John Dvorak thinks so. He’s weeping for Microsoft and bashing Apple-lovers in PC Magazine:

As big and as important as Microsoft is, the coverage of the company is quite mediocre. This is particularly true in the mainstream press. The reason for this is that today’s newspaper and magazine tech writers know little about computers and are all Mac users. It’s a fact.

This is why when Microsoft actually does have a good idea, people look to trash it out of hand. With 90 percent of the mainstream writers being Mac users, what would you expect? The top columnists in the news and business magazines fit this model too. The technology writers fit this model. The tech writers and tech columnists for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and Fortune are all Mac users. I could list them by name, but I’d hate to leave one out. Maybe I’ll blog them by name. I could list 50. Readers should thus not be surprised by the overcoverage of Apple Computer. Every time Steve Jobs sneezes there is a collective chorus of “Gesundheit” from tech writers pounding away on their Macs.

This reality is not going to change. In fact it will only get worse as technology coverage is handed to newer, less-qualified observers who simply cannot use a Microsoft Windows computer. With no Microsoft-centric frame of reference, Microsoft cannot look good.

While I won’t say his argument is entirely without merit, I would offer these three questions in response to Dvorak:

1. What new products has Microsoft introduced in the last few years to rival the popularity of iPod? Answer: None.

2. If Microsoft were offering cooler products than Apple, wouldn’t the tech reporters want to use them? Answer: Yes.

3. Which company does a better job of promoting its accomplishments? Answer: Apple.

Microsoft wasn’t crying about PR when it had every TV news crew in the country staying up all night to cover the launch of Windows 95. The company has plenty of money to promote itself, and plenty of leverage with techonology reporters; it just has to do a better job of capturing their imaginations. That requires innovative products — and creative marketing of those products.

Andy Lark offers another perspective on Dvorak’s column.

Technorati tags: Journalism, PR, Public Relations, Marketing, Apple, Dvorak