Katie McLaughlin
Verified
As seen in:
Court TV,
CNN,
CNN International,
MSN,
HuffPost,
Wiley Online Library,
Los Angeles Times,
JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association),
DEV Community,
NewsBreak,
WTVR-TV (Richmond, VA)
and
Covers:
gilmore girls, music, morgan spurlock, nostalgia, anthony bourdain, the 1960s, rahm emanuel, television, chicago, entertainment, film, awards season, bard prison initiative
Badder than old King Kong. Meaner than the junkyard dog.
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Associate Producer for Court TV (truTV) Newsbreaks, a once-an-hour, every hour, legal news hit. Wrote scripts, edited videos and sound bytes.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes. There's a Corona #3 Special in my possession.
How is social media changing news?
People either turn to social media first when they hear something's going down, or they find out about it first via social media.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Rory Gilmore
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Quoting Paris Geller from Gilmore Girls again: “Look, Rory, if you want to crib your articles from the AP wire, that's your business. I, on the other hand, actually give a rat's ass about journalistic integrity. When I write about Ramadan, I experience Ramadan. Are you chewing gum?”
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
#Blizzardof78saywhat (RE: snow)
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
E-mail is best; but if someone for whatever reason reason can't find my e-mail address, pinging me onTwitter works fast too.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Photoshop, ScribbleLive, WordPress, Dreamweaver, Twitter, Final Cut, Drupal, iNews, Getty Images, Lexis Nexis, CMS, Facebook
What's your favorite social network?
Facebook. Which, I suppose, dates me.
Who do you wish followed you?
Amy Sherman-Palladino, Lauren Graham, Bill Clinton, Zach Braff, Alexander Payne, Bill Lawrence, RFK Jr., Ringo Starr, Snoopy, Pope Francis
Why did you become a journalist?
In the words of Paris Geller from Gilmore Girls, “Journalism is an art form, and the best art is created under repression, like Stalin’s Gulag. You think Solzhenitsyn could’ve written ‘One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich’ on a yoga retreat?”
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 50th anniversary of the film adaptation of Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird": http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/03/showbiz/to-kill-a-mockingbird-50/
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Travel and education are the two things you cannot attach a price tag to.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Mid-to-late afternoon.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.