Chandra Bozelko
Verified
As seen in:
WitnessLA,
CNN,
Medium,
MSN,
The New York Times,
The New York Times Magazine,
Daily Mail,
HuffPost,
Reuters,
Scribd,
The Guardian
and
Covers:
Criminal justice, criminal justice, prison reform, reentry, recidivism, women in prison, public health in prison.
Columnist @witnessLA/@ctexaminer. Ethics Committee @spj_tweets. Formerly: @NationalMemo, @Gannett, @CreatorsNation. Former Pres. @CTSPJ. VP @NYPressClub.
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
I was the first inmate to have a regular byline in a newspaper. The column was named "Prison Diaries" and eventually became a blog.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes. In prison. I told you; I'm old school.
How is social media changing news?
Social media is changing not only the speed of news but it brings new readers to less mainstream publications that run great pieces.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Oscar Madison.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Being a journalist means you've traded structure for meaning in your life.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
This misspelled Hurricane Harvey hashtag #HurricaneHarvery. When I saw Joy Reid and others using it, I googled to see what I missed.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
A very informal email: "Do you know anything about this? Are you interested?" will always suffice.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
I'm old school; pens, hard-backed reporters' notebooks and Lexis-Nexis.
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter.
Who do you wish followed you?
Van Jones, Bill Keller and Farah Stockman.
Why did you become a journalist?
It gave me purpose when I had none.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
No.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
The June 2015 Guardian oped about menstrual supplies in prisons that went viral.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Just write, and do it accurately and honestly. Fear no topic nor any revelation about yourself.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Anytime.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
A request to write about prison escapes for Quartz.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
None, really. Every single one has caused me to learn something.
What's your favorite drink?
Pellegrino Sparkling Water.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
At a TV.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Marshall Project.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
Most common misconception about justice stories is that journos who haven't been in trouble know the whole story. They usually don't.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.