Podcast
“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.
“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.
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.
On today’s show, we’re joined by Joel Shannon, a reporter for USA Today’s Nation Now team. Joel covers trending news stories including weather, health, and national news, and recently has covered stories about COVID-19. On the episode, Joel shares about the unique way Now News works with local news publications, why pitching him might be tough, how he works with beat writers from USA Today, and more.
On today’s show, we’re joined by Joshua Pinkay, a senior editor for Obvious Magazine as well as SoCal Magazine. For Obvious Magazine, Joshua covers various entertainment topics from interviews and personal profiles to news and updates within the industry. And for SoCal Magazine, he covers events, news, and human-interest stories with notable members of the Southern California community. On the show today, Joshua tells us about his focus on human interest-oriented stories, his approach to crafting stories that are built for a wide audience, and lots 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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