What was your first job as a journalist?
I was a journalist writing about cultural events and environmental protection issues in a small weekly newspaper in Poland back in the 1990s
Have you ever used a typewriter?
How is social media changing news?
Tremendously! Seems people are more informed about the world because news sources participating in social media activities.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
N/A
What does it mean to be a journalist?
It is not a profession. It is a character. It is not 9 to 5 job. If you are good journalist you are working 24/7.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
via email: www.IvoWidlak.com, via Facebook: www.facebook.com/IvoWidlak, via Twitter: www.twitter.com/IvoWidlak
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Google, Final Cut Pro, Avid, Sony Vegas Pro, ...
What's your favorite social network?
Facebook.
Who do you wish followed you?
President Barack Obama is following me on Twitter so I think I am set.
Why did you become a journalist?
I believe that good journalism can make a difference in the world and change it for the better.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
I not only worked for high school newspaper I created it and run it for 4 years. I also created a monthly newspaper in grammar school.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Interviewing the 14th Dalai Lama. I interviewed 4 Nobel Prize Winners: Dalai Lama, Lech Walesa, Czeslaw Milosz & Wislawa Szymborska.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Journalism is not a profession. It is a mission. Become journalist only if you hear the calling.
When's the best time to pitch you?
I am available 24/7. www.facebook.com/IvoWidlak and www.twitter.com/IvoWidlak and www.IvoWidlak.com
What's the best pitch you ever got?
Hearing a story of a refugee of Bosnian War who got an asylum in Poland.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
I will check every pitch and will check and decide if it is a newsworthy.
What's your favorite drink?
Coffee all day long!
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
On my smart phone...
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Huffington Post
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
People labeled me as "controversial".I write about issues that any other journalist won't write about.Seems like truth became "controversial"
