Coffee with a Journalist

This week we're joined by Rebecca Bellan, a transportation reporter at TechCrunch. Rebecca covers all things transportation for TechCrunch including the tech and the people behind how people move throughout cities, and how companies bring sustainable mobility to the world. Previously, she has held positions at Forbes, CityLab, and The Atlantic.

During the episode today, Rebecca talks about pitch subject lines, the annoyance of follow ups, the uniqueness of writing about technology, and more.

Our guest on the show today is Holden Page, director of FinLedger. Holden covers venture capital and mergers & acquisitions in the fintech space. Prior to joining FinLedger, he was a managing editor at Crunchbase and owned his own venture firm from 2013 to 2017.

On the episode today, Holden talks about pitches in his email inbox and his Twitter inbox, why honest sources are the best ones to work with, why he assumes good intent with sources, and more.

Joining us on the show today is Dan Bova, an editorial director of digital content for Entrepreneur. Dan has worked for a number of news outlets and TV shows including Maxim Magazine, Stuff Magazine, The Alec Baldwin Show, and Jimmy Kimmel. He's also written a humor column that has appeared throughout the USA Today network.

During the episode, Dan shares more about his role and responsibilities as editorial director of digital content, what types of pitches and content fit his outlet's audience best, why he appreciates any sort of positive feedback, and more.

Joining us today is Kendall Baker, a sports editor for Axios. Kendall writes the daily Axios Sports newsletter and he covers the stats and stories driving the conversation. He is also the former Founder of Sports Internet which was acquired by Axios in 2019.

During the episode, Kendall shares about his love of playing and following sports, some of the ways he compiles the sports newsletter at Axios, why he appreciates personal notes from sources, and more.

Our guest on the show today is John Timmer, a senior science editor for Ars Technica. John has done over a decade's worth of research in genetics and developmental biology at places like Cornell Medical College and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. When physically separated from his keyboard, he tends to seek out a bicycle, or a scenic location for communing with his hiking boots.

During the episode, John shares about his transition from academia into journalism, the science's community's system for pitching stories, why it's not okay to follow up with him, and more.

Our guest this week is Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai a senior staff writer for Vice Motherboard. Lorenzo covers hacking, information security, and digital rights. Prior to his current role, he was an intern turned reporter at Mashable, and an editorial intern at Wired.

During the episode, Lorenzo starts by sharing about the high number of irrelevant emails in his inbox, the growth of the cybersecurity team at Motherboard, answers an audience question, and more.

Joining us this week is Ashley Carman; a senior reporter, producer, and host for The Verge. She writes and pitches news articles, features, and scoops about the podcasting business, hardware startups, and social networks. She's the co-host and producer of the podcast Why'd You Push That Button?, and hosts and produces the YouTube series In The Making.

During today's episode, Ashley talks about her process for vetting pitches, a story she's been working on for over a year, her appreciation for readers' feedback, and more. Let's hear more from Ashley now!

Our guest on the show this week is Issie Lapowsky, a senior reporter for Protocol. Issie's coverage centers around the intersectionality of technology, politics, and national affairs. Issie has also been a senior writer for Wired, a contributor at CBS, and a reporter/staff writer for Inc. Magazine.

During today's episode, Issie starts by sharing more about the uniqueness of Protocol's coverage as an outlet, who she gets the best stories and ideas from, how many follow ups are acceptable, and more.

Joining us on the show today is Manasa Gogineni, a reporter for VentureBeat. Manasa covers funding announcements and news for Enterprise tech companies. She is also currently a senior Regents Scholar at UC Davis writing an honors thesis while also directing the Davis Political Review.

During the episode, Manasa starts off by sharing how she flags sources that land in her inbox, why she prefers personalized pitches that are timely and comprehensive, where you can pitch her (besides email), and more.

Today, we're sitting down with Sandra Gutierrez, a DIY Assistant Editor for Popular Science. Sandra began her career at Rolling Stone Chile as a reporter/writer and, prior to Popular Science, Sandra was an in-house PR executive at Google.

During today's episode, Sandra shares more about her obsession with keeping her inbox organized, her past experience as a PR professional and how that ties into her current role, the concept of the DIY team and how they craft stories, and more.