tl;dr - Online tech journalists get paid shit, so no wonder they're just kids with keyboards, for the most part. Being "good at tech" is not nearly as important as WANTING to learn stuff about tech.
I've worked as a tech journalist for most major online publications in Israel for the better part of a decade. I still write for some magazines on a freelance basis, but learned the trade working full time in a serious publication. So I have no academic training (aside from a few uni courses in media and communications) but I learned on the job (as I often tend to do). I don't know how things work in other countries, but in Israel there's a very high turnover in tech journalism. The pay is shit. Seriously, it's one of the main reason I quit - I make more writing corporate blogs in English than I did flying to MWC to cover announcements and new products presented. Which makes me sad, but explains why the content is just... inferior.
Do tech journalists need to understand tech? It helps. But more than that, it's about the ability to accept that you are not a developer but a journalist. So like any other topic - do your research and don't assume you know anything at all.
I recently started writing a series of articles about blockchain technologies for a local men's magazine. So my text will be featured alongside semi-nude ladies. It's kinda amusing to me, but they pay well. But that's not why I took the job. I took it cause it's fun.
I spent over a week researching. I spoke to 2 CEOs of companies that recently completed an ICO successfully. I read dozens of articles, a couple of whitepapers and learned SO MUCH by writing this. To me, as a techslut, the learning experience that comes with tech journalism is EVERYTHING. It's why I love it so. I get to learn amazing new stuff and then "translate" it into something your average dude can understand while reading the magazine in the toilet.
P.S. None of that stopped Internet commenters from screaming murder when they saw game reviews under the author name of a girl. :)
I can perfectly understand the part about being paid shit. At my first job I earned 90 dollars a month, but just like you, I spent a lot of time actually learning about tech. But that's not something that seems to be popular :(
Yeah, publishers prefer listicles and fluff pieces because those bring in the money. And can be written for cheap. I don't do articles that pay less than $200 a pop nowadays. I am also going to guess that's what most GOOD tech journalists end up doing.