What was your first job as a journalist?
Led the first outlet that covered Pakistan's pre-VC era start-up ecosystem.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Maybe in jest.
How is social media changing news?
Disinformation goes viral, fact checking barely makes the newsfeed.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Will McAvoy from The Newsroom.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
To partake in the indispensable role for a healthy, informed society, particularly in a democracy.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
You would think was about a faked moon landing.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Email me on babarkj@gmail.com
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
RealityDefender, TrueMedia, Pindrop, Google Docs, and Grammarly.
What's your favorite social network?
Reddit
Who do you wish followed you?
follows no one.
Why did you become a journalist?
To hold the powerful accountable.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Nothing useful.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Being the first to report that bank lockers had been flooded in 2020 due to excessive rain in Karachi.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Get perspectives from all sides of the issue. Follow the money. Follow the receipts. Use AI to determine the vested interests in the problem.
When's the best time to pitch you?
9am ET.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
It was about how ad revenue dependent media were being paid by CPG companies to create the "sugar cartel" narrative.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
People read tech reporter and somehow that means pitches about the latest contraption in the world of book printing.
What's your favorite drink?
Peanut butter shake
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Losing very badly in MMA, swimming, squash, or Marvel Rivals.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Axios, The Intercept, Drop Site News, Zeteo
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That trade journalism will print anything a B2B company claims about their product/service.
