“Coffee with a Journalist” features candid conversations with top tier editors, reporters, and journalists who share their publicist pet peeves, pitching best practices, outlook on the future of journalism, and more.
Maya Shwayder joins us on the show today. Maya is a freelance writer and most recently was a privacy and tech reporter for Digital Trends. She has extensive experience reporting from various locations including New York, Berlin, Washington D.C., and Boston. On the episode today, Maya tells us about her recent gig at Digital Trends, how long she spends reviewing pitches that she also places into one of two categories, a recent pitch subject line that caught her attention and why, and lots more.
We’re joined by Aaron Pressman on today’s show. Aaron is a senior technology writer for Fortune magazine and the co-author of Data Sheet - a daily newsletter covering tech news. Aaron joined Fortune in March of 2016 and previously reported for Yahoo!, Bloomberg, and Reuters. On the show today, Aaron tells us more about his newsletter, “the Data Sheet,” his latest coverage surrounding 5G, the ways a perfect pitch can be crafted for his writing interests, and more.
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.
“I speak from the perspective of someone who was a guest on this lively show. Beck Bamberger does a great job of setting a relaxed tone that produces an entertaining and informative conversation that makes a download worth the time for the listeners, particularly for public relations professionals. I recommend giving it a whirl”
“PR pros - if you aren’t listening to this podcast you need to! Each week this podcast goes behind the scenes with well known journalists and gives you insight into what they are working on, tips for pitching, what they do and don’t like. You sometimes learn personal info which you can leverage in your pitches. We all know that cutting through the weeds and getting a reporters attention is getting harder and harder but this podcast gives you the tools to get a reporter to respond and get your client the coverage they want!!!! Make sure you add this to your list of favorites.”
“I have listened to several episodes of this podcast and have found them extremely valuable.
The journalists on the show share tips about what they look for in pitches, the dynamics of their
team/outlets, how they compile their stories, and what their thoughts are on the changing
journalism landscape.
All PR pros should be listening to this podcast! It’s been so helpful.
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