Coffee with a Journalist

Today, we're joined by John Biggs, the Editor-in-Chief of Gizmodo magazine. John's tenure in journalism has spanned 17 years including his past roles at The New York Times, TechCrunch, and CoinDesk. Not only is John a well-known journalist but he's also an entrepreneur and author, and most recently launched his newest book, "Get Funded - The Startup Entrepreneur's Guide to Seriously Successful Fundraising." On today's episode, John shares about his early days at Gizmodo, his thoughts on what "tech news" consists of, how pitching has shifted over the past 10+ years, and more.

On today's episode, we're joined by Peter Adams, a reporter for Marketing Dive - an umbrella company of Industry Dive. Peter's coverage includes news, updates, and cultural trends in the marketing industry and most recently has written about the industry shifts due to COVID-19, marketing amidst social movements, and generational consumer behavior. Today, Peter shares about his favorite canned coffee, what makes Marketing Dive's daily newsletter unique, the types of stories you can pitch him, and more.

Today's guest is Kate Clark, a reporter for The Information covering venture capital and startups. Kate joined The Information in January of 2020 and was previously a reporter for TechCrunch breaking some of the biggest stories to hit the venture capital industry. On the episode today, Kate shares insight about her process for identifying sources in her inbox, where and who she gets her story ideas from, the peaks and valleys of reporting, and more.

On today's episode, we're joined by Olivia Solon, the editor of tech investigations for NBC News. She has previously worked at news outlets including The Guardian, Bloomberg, and WiRED. Olivia gives us an in-depth look into her inbox "shit-show", she shares more about her recent coverage surrounding Facebook and racial bias claims, why she prefers tips over press releases and pitches, and more.

On the show today, we're joined by Mary Ann Azevedo, the managing editor for FinLedger - a fintech-focused media brand designed for financial services professionals. Mary Ann has been a journalist for over 20 years serving as a reporter and editor, most recently with Forbes and Crunchbase News. Mary Ann talks about her new role and building a team at FinLedger, juggling writing, editing, and being a mom, her coverage on startups and how fintech is evolving, and more.

Today's guest is Samson Amore, a technology reporter for The Wrap where he covers tech, esports, podcasts, and gaming. Samson previously reported for the Los Angeles Business Journal and worked for notable news outlets including NPR and the Boston Globe. During the show, Samson tells us about his love of drinking coffee, the growth of The Wrap, the types of pitches that are helpful, how much of his stories include pitches, and more.

On today's show, we're joined by Rob Pegoraro, a contributor to Fast Company, Yahoo Tech Finance, Wirecutter, and the Washington Post. Rob has been a journalist for over 20 years, and now covers computers, gadgets, and consumer-tech related news. Rob shares his insights surrounding data privacy, how he thinks about the broader view of a pitch related to a story he's working on, why he hasn't created a TikTok video yet, and more.

On today's show, we're joined by Ilyse Liffreing, the social media editor and reporter at Ad Age. Ilyse has served previous roles at NBC News and Digiday, and now covers the latest news surrounding social media, prominent platforms, and the emerging landscape. Ilyse shares with us how many hundreds of emails she receives daily, why she has to read every pitch in her inbox, the components of a good pitch that fit her beat, and more.

On today's show, we're joined by Ben Schiller, the managing editor for features and opinions at CoinDesk. Ben has over 20 years of experience in business and tech journalism serving previous roles at Fast Company and BREAKERMAG. Today, Ben dives into the 3 segments of CoinDesk's audience, his focus on feature articles and trend stories, why pitches must be topical and newsworthy, BREAKERMAG's former "furry" mascot, and more.

On today's show, we're joined by Katherine Foley, a health and science reporter for Quartz. Katherine focuses on stories surrounding age-related health and aging populations and most recently has been covering these types of stories related to COVID-19. Today, Katherine tells us about how Quartz approaches COVID-19 coverage, how she organizes pitches in her inbox, why you shouldn't pitch her personal email, her free personal newsletter, and more.