Coffee With A Journalist

Today, we’re joined by Becca Szkutak, a venture capital reporter at Forbes. Becca covers micro VCs, startups, and fundraising. She is also the co-author of the Midas Touch newsletter. Prior to joining Forbes, she was a reporter for Venture Capital Journal and Private Debt Investor. During the episode, Becca talks about reading and responding to pitches, the range of stories she enjoys diving into, her favorite quarantine activity, and more.

Our guest on the show today is Scott Nover, an emerging industries reporter for Quartz, where he writes about the internet and emerging technology. Prior to Quartz, Scott was a platforms reporter for Adweek. In 2019, he was named a finalist for the Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism for his reporting at The Atlantic, and he also founded and served as the first editor-in-chief of MediaFile, a student-run media criticism website. During the show, Scott shares specifics about his beat and coverage, his approach to working with sources, how he takes pride in his written work, and more.

Our guest today is Shayla Love, a senior staff writer for feature stories at Vice. Shayla covers stories about science, health, and the mind. Prior to Vice, she was a news reporting intern at Stat News as well as a features intern for The Washington Post. During the episode, Shayla shares specifics about her beat and coverage, how she keeps pitches and trending news on her radar, her favorite exercise activity, and more.

Today on the podcast, we’re joined by Alex Knapp, a senior editor at Forbes. Alex covers, and manages, stories surrounding healthcare, science, and cutting edge technology. He’s been with Forbes since 2011 starting as a social media editor before becoming an associate editor in 2015, and finally rising to the ranks of senior editor in April of 2020. During the show, Alex answers an audience question, talks about his inbox organization, what types of pitches he loves to receive, and more.

Today, we’re joined by one of Fortune’s newest writers, Megan Leonhardt. She covers the intersection of finance, policy and regulations. Prior to Fortune, she was the senior money reporter at CNBC and a writer for Time’s MONEY Magazine. During the show, Megan shares more about one of her first jobs involving pitching, her new beat at Fortune, what information she wants from sources, and more.

We have a very special episode for our listeners today. Joining us on Coffee with a Journalist is Carlo Versano and Jill Wagner from Cheddar. Carlo is a senior writer and producer, and Jill is an anchor for Cheddar’s daily news. Together, they also co-host the daily podcast, Need2Know, which features, “all the news, analysis and (un)necessary commentary you need to start the day.” During the show, Carlo and Jill give us the inside scoop about their pitching preferences, what it’s like to work for a digital and broadcast outlet, and more.

Today, we’re speaking with Sasha Lekach, a tech reporter at Mashable. Sasha covers everything transportation and tech for Mashable, out of their SF office. That means self-driving cars, electric vehicles, mass transit, ride-hailing apps, and more. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News, SFGate, and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. On the episode today, Sasha talks more about her inbox filtering system, the different ways her stories come to life, answers an audience question about pitching, and lots more.

This week we’re joined by Nathan Ingraham, deputy managing editor of Engadget. In his role, Nathan keeps track of the site's daily news operations and also covers Google, Apple, gaming, apps, and weird internet culture. Prior to Engadget, Nathan was a news editor and reporter for The Verge. During the episode today, Nathan shares more about his role and responsibilities as deputy managing editor, the best way to approach him if you want to work together, why he appreciated brevity and camaraderie, and more.

Today on Coffee with a Journalist we’re joined by Shannen Balogh, a reporter at Insider. Shannen covers payments and fintech on the finance team at Insider. She is interested in the future of how we pay and get paid, and the role that startups and incumbents play in payments innovation. She started at Insider as an editorial fellow in September of 2019 before becoming a junior reporter in March of 2020. On today’s episode, Shannen shares more about using labels in her inbox, where she gets inspiration for her stories, the percentage of relevant pitches she receives, and more.

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.

Today, we’re chatting with Ben Stegner, a Deputy Editor and Onboarding Manager for MakeUseOf. Ben oversees the Android, iOS, and Mac sections. He's been covering tech tutorials, video game recommendations, and more as a professional writer for over six years. Ben originally started his career in IT and began writing in 2016 for Nintendo Life. During the episode, Ben tells us more about his role and the many responsibilities he has, why he tends to delete all the pitches he receives, where he gets ideas for writing articles, and more.