Coffee With A Journalist

Joining us today on Coffee with a Journalist is Blake Montgomery. He is the tech news editor at Gizmodo where he oversees a team of reporters covering technology news.  During the episode, Blake shares about his love of writing, his recommendation for building a working relationship together, his honest opinion on embargoes, and lots more.

Today’s guest on Coffee with a Journalist is Eli Tan, an NFT reporter for CoinDesk. Elijah covers NFTs, gaming and the metaverse. During the episode, Eli talks about the many NFT pitches he receives (spoiler: 300-400 per day), what he looks for in pitches, the types of sources he enjoys speaking with, and more.

Our guest today on Coffee with a Journalist is Devindra Hardawar, a senior editor for Engadget. Devindra covers product reviews, analysis, and New York City's burgeoning tech scene. He’s also a part-time film critic and co-host on one of the longest running movie podcasts online, the /Filmcast. During the episode, Devindra talks about his preference for personalized pitches, his thoughts on exclusives & embargoes, the many things he’s doing outside of writing stories, and more.

Joining us on the podcast today is Karla Pope, freelance writer for Good Housekeeping. Karla also writes for Woman’s Day, People, Parade, BET.com. WebMD, and more. Her coverage includes entertainment, beauty, lifestyle, parenting, and fashion content During the episode, Karla talks about working both at an agency and being a freelance writer, how you can make your pitch can stand out in her inbox, how to best time your pitches for her coverage, and more.

Today’s guest on Coffee with a Journalist is Mark Matousek, a reporter at The Information. Mark covers HR and corporate culture in the tech industry. During the episode, Mark shares his thought on a real pitch he received, how you can make your pitch relevant to The Information’s coverage, his thoughts & timelines for embargoes, and more.

Our guest today on Coffee with a Journalist is Jae Thomas, a shopping reporter at Mashable. Jae covers kitchen goods, pet products, and fitness gadgets. During the episode, Jae starts by sharing more about their coverage and the team at Mashable, why they love pitches that are straightforward, how you should structure your subject lines for them, and more.

Today on Coffee with a Journalist, we’re joined by Melissa Angell, a staff reporter for Inc. Magazine. Melissa has been a reporter for a number of years and with multiple news publications including Law360, American Banker, and TheStreet. During the episode, Melissa shares an example of a real pitch that led to her attending an event, explains how her inbox contributes to the stories she writes, her top 3 pitching preferences, and more.

Our guest on the podcast this week is Chris Teale, the technology reporter for Morning Consult. As the technology reporter, Chris uses proprietary polling data, external data sets and interviews with experts from across the sector to write feature-length and short articles about technology trends and news. He also produces a weekly morning newsletter. During the episode, Chris shares about what Morning Consult is, his process for finding unique stories to write, how you should structure pitches to send his way, and more.

This week on the podcast we sit down with MarketWatch’s technology editor and San Francisco Bureau Chief, Jeremy Owens. Prior to MarketWatch, Jeremy was an editor for San Jose Mercury News, The Examiner, and The Argus. During the episode, Jeremy tells us how he’s vetting pitches, his extremely busy role as an editor and bureau chief, why MarketWatch doesn’t cover exclusives, and more.

This week we’re joined by Wirecutter editor-in-chief, Ben Frumin. Before Wirecutter, Ben was the editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com, a senior editor at Talking Points Memo, and a professor at Columbia Journalism School. During the episode, Ben talks about his process for reviewing and vetting pitches, the quality and standards the Wirecutter team follows, how they approach product reviews, and more.

Our guest this week on Coffee with a Journalist is Marlize van Romburgh, the editor-in-chief for Crunchbase News. Marlize leads a team of journalists doing data-driven reporting on venture capital and private companies. During the episode, Marlize tells us about her start in business journalism, how the Crunchbase team sources data for their stories, the pitches that succeed with her and her team, and more.

Joining us this week on the podcast is Alcynna Lloyd, an economy reporter at Insider. Alcynna writes stories on the economy pertaining to housing and real estate. Prior to joining Business Insider, she was the Digital Media Manager at HousingWire. During the episode, Alcynna shares the types of pitches that grab her attention, her requirements for an embargo, how economists are landing in her inbox, and more.

Today’s guest on Coffee with a Journalist is Jeena Sharma, a retail reporter at Morning Brew. Jeena covers retail and consumer trends from the B2B perspective for the Retail Brew newsletter. She was previously the beauty editor at Paper Magazine and a fashion and beauty writer at Nylon. During the episode, Jeena shares about reader feedback, her honest advice for sending her pitches, how she seeks inspiration for her stories, and more.

Today, we’re joined by Capital B’s national health reporter, Margo Snipe. As a national health reporter, Margo covers critical issues affecting the mental and physical health of Black Americans. She digs into how racial bias in medicine impacts Black Americans’ lives and investigates inequities in the American health care system. During the episode, Margo shares more about her role at Capital B, the various types of pitches in her inbox, sources she’s looking to connect with, and more.

Today on the podcast, we’re joined by Anita Ramaswamy, a reporter at TechCrunch. Anita covers crypto and fintech startups, trends, and news. Before joining TechCrunch, Anita was a finance fellow at Insider. During the episode, Anita shares real-life examples of pitch subject lines, why she’s hesitant about pursuing exclusives, her new podcast from TechCrunch, and more.

Our guest on the podcast this week is Tom Matsuda, a fintech reporter at The Block. As a fintech reporter, Tom covers crypto wallets, Asia, and investments. Prior to The Block, Tom reported on neobanks, payment firms and blockchain startups for Sifted. During the episode, Tom shares about the constant array of crypto news he receives, what kind of information he wants to see in a pitch, his personal thoughts on exclusives, and more.

This week on the podcast we’re talking with Mia Maguire, commerce editor at The Daily Beast, Scouted. She covers new products, product comparisons, deals, and how-tos. During the episode, Mia shares her pet peeves about pitches, how she’s connecting online and offline with sources, when it’s appropriate to follow up with her, and more.

This week on the podcast we’re talking with Melinda Fakuade, an associate editor of culture and features at Vox. She has written for New York Magazine, The Outline, Rolling Stone, and MEL Magazine, among many other outlets. During the episode, Melinda talks about how to effectively approach her with a story, her extremely high email open rate, her sincere interest in what she covers, and more.

This week on Coffee with a Journalist we’re joined by Lisa Lacy, the commerce editor at Adweek. Lisa focuses on retail and the growing reach of Amazon. As the sole reporter for Amazon, her stories gross 2+ million views annually. During the episode, Lisa shares how little time she spends scanning her inbox, how she pursues the story behind the scenes, her interpretation of an exclusive, and more.

Our guest this week on Coffee with a Journalist is Adrienne LaFrance, an executive editor at The Atlantic. She’s held numerous roles with the publication since 2014 and prior to that was an investigative reporter for several local news organizations. During the episode, Adrienne starts off by telling us about her role as executive editor, her thoughts on cold pitches, her advice for sources approaching journalists, and more.