Coffee With A Journalist

On this episode of Coffee with a Journalist, host Beck Bamberger speaks with Rose Minutaglio, senior editor at ELLE magazine. Rose shares her perspective on how to format pitches, including the reasons why she automatically deletes them. The discussion also delves into Rose's column, Clothes of Our Lives, which explores how fashion can be used as a tool for communication. With an average of about 200 emails a day, Rose recommends keeping emails short and offers tips on how to catch her attention. If you're a freelancer, Rose has some great advice for you too.

On this episode of Coffee with a Journalist, host Beck Bamberger speaks with HuffPost wellness reporter Jillian Wilson. They discuss the ins and outs of service journalism, covering topics like wellness, beauty, and food. Jillian shares her approach to finding sources and filtering through email pitches and talks about the importance of using embargoes or exclusives only for big news and building relationships with PR professionals. Additionally, they delve into creative subject line ideas and how to format them like headlines to attract readers.

Today on the podcast we’re talking with Jill Duffy, a columnist and deputy managing editor at PCMag. She’s been contributing to PCMag since 2011 and currently writes about work life, productivity, and software with an emphasis on apps for productivity and collaboration. During the episode, Jill talks about PCMag’s approach to vetting and reviewing products, her low-touch recommendation for building and sustaining a working relationship, why everyone should have a business mentor, and more.

On the podcast today we’re joined by Kate Irwin. She is a gaming lead reporter for Decrypt where she writes about the latest news and features in technology and big tech, cryptocurrency news, entertainment, and culture. Kate also creates video content for the Decrypt website and social media pages. During the episode, Kate talks about Decrypt’s audience and how the team likes to break down stories, the story she looks for behind videogames and their makers, the reason why full transparency is important to her and her readers, and lots more.

Our guest today on Coffee with a Journalist is Emily Rella. Emily is a senior news writer at Entrepreneur, writing about feature stories, business, tech, and lifestyle. During the episode, Emily shares two examples of pitches that captured her attention, the most effective ways to build and foster a working relationship, how to position exclusives and embargoes, and more.

Today’s guest on the podcast is Brooke Masters. She is a US Financial Editor and an Associate Editor at the Financial Times where she leads a team of reporters covering financial services. During the episode, Brooke talks about how coverage is broken down across teams at FT, how sources should be pitched effectively, when is the best time to pitch her, and more.

Our guest today on “Coffee with a Journalist” is Phoebe Bain, a senior reporter at Ad Age. Phoebe covers influencer marketing and DTC brands. She joined Ad Age from Morning Brew where she helped found the Marketing Brew vertical. During the episode, Phoebe talks about familiarizing herself with her new-ish role at Ad Age, crafty subject lines that caught her attention, meeting up in person with sources, and more.

Today on the podcast we’re joined by Samantha Maldonado. She is a senior reporter for climate change at THE CITY, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, digital news platform dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York. During the episode, Samantha shares an inside look at THE CITY and what they focus on as a publication, why embargoes can be helpful for reporting stories quicker, a few tips on what exactly to include or exclude in pitches, and more.

Our guest today on the podcast is Kathryn Lundstrom. She is the sustainability editor at Adweek where she covers marketing and advertising news through a climate lens. During the episode, Kathryn talks about the types of people and companies she’s looking to speak with, why pitches that use plain language are best, where you should actually be sending guest articles, and more.

This week on the podcast we sit down with Riddhi Kanetkar, a junior startups and VC reporter at Insider. She's interested in covering emerging sectors such as health tech, with a focus on women's health and mental health, as well as underrepresented founders and VCs in tech, company culture, labor rights, and the gig economy. During the episode, Riddhi talks about writing behind the paywall, turnaround time for funding pieces vs features, her thoughts on in-person meetups, and more.

Our guest this week on Coffee with a Journalist is Russell Contreras. Russell is the senior race and justice reporter at Axios where he covers the policies and agencies at the heart of the administration of justice and how it impacts people of color. During the episode, Russell talks about practicing brevity in pitches, how and what to pitch when it comes to embargoes and exclusives, why you shouldn’t pitch him local news, and more.  

Today on the podcast we’re joined by Matt Safford, managing editor at Tom’s Hardware. Matt started building PCs in the 90s and was a fan of technology from an early age. That love turned evolved into a journalism career writing for publications including Popular Science, PCMag, and Digital Trends. During the episode, Matt discusses his unique approach when it comes to product reviews, how to format pitches for his writing style, why he’s skeptical of exclusives, and more.

Our guest this week on the podcast is Lucia Moses, a senior correspondent at Insider. Lucia writes and reports on media for the publication and held a previous role as deputy editor overseeing media and advertising coverage. During the episode, Lucia talks about the difference in stories that are behind the paywall vs in front of it, why she enjoys covering well-known brands, her openness to feedback on stories, and more.

This week on the Coffee with a Journalist podcast we spoke with Ray Wong, deputy editor of reviews & guides at Inverse. Ray covers consumer technology including product reviews and investigating AI technology, with the aim to uncover the larger story. During the episode, Ray talks about exclusives he writes related to products and people, why he prefers to work with sources he already knows, how you can model your pitch off an existing article he’s written, and more.

Our featured guest this week on the Coffee with a Journalist podcast is Zoë Weiner. Zoë is the senior beauty editor at Well+Good where she guides coverage of skin care, hair care, cosmetics, and the beauty industry at large. She’s also the host of Zoë Tries It All, a YouTube series by Well+Good. During the episode, Zoë shares she receives between 500-600 emails per day, what kinds of companies and pitches she’s most interested in right now, her upcoming stories launching for summer, and more.  

This week on the Coffee with a Journalist podcast we sat down with Kate Davis, Fast Co. deputy editor and the host of The Way We Work podcast. During the episode, Kate talks about what it’s like juggling multiple roles, her preferences for how to format subject lines, what you shouldn’t be mentioning in pitches, and more.

Today on the podcast we had a chance to speak with Jay Peters, a news writer at The Verge. Jay covers breaking news in consumer technology, video games, entertainment, streaming, and more. He also writes about virtual worlds, the technologies that power them, and the companies trying to make the metaverse happen. During the episode, Jay talks about the most useful pitches for him personally, lead time for embargoes, his thoughts on the future of the metaverse, and lots more.

Our guest this week on the podcast is Teddy Amenabar, a reporter on the Well+Being team at The Washington Post. Teddy covers internet trends spanning a wide range of subject matter from health, to climate and technology. During the episode, Teddy shares more about the Well+Being team and their coverage, why he doesn’t put much focus on pitch subject lines, his unique perspective on exclusive stories, and lots more.

This week on the Coffee with a Journalist podcast we’re joined by Miriam Cross, a technology reporter at American Banker. Miriam covers banking technology and fintech specifically writing about the customer experience. During the episode, Miriam talks about a pitch she still thinks about from over a year ago, an example of an exclusive pitch, why her email inbox is the best place to reach her, and lots more.

Our guest this week on Coffee with a Journalist is Megan Farokhmanesh, a senior writer at Wired. As a senior writer, Megan covers video games and the industry that makes them.  During the episode, Megan talks about why she has so many sticky notes on her desk, the ways you should and shouldn’t format subject lines, her preference for lead time on stories, and much more.