Jim Polson
Bearsville
Former energy reporter for Bloomberg News. Now reinventing myself. Opinions are my own. Hell, call it a parody account.
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Reporter at Sun Newspapers in Omaha, NE
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes.
How is social media changing news?
Making it crazy
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
John H. Watson
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Speed and accuracy with truth as the elusive goal. Also, basic storytelling.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
By e-mail, with phone followup
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Bloomberg terminal. Phone. Web
What's your favorite social network?
Facebook
Who do you wish followed you?
Barack Obama and Donald Trump
Why did you become a journalist?
Writing was my best skill. Not good enough for a novelist.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Editor
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
A series, mostly penned by Ken Wells, on new technology that's changing power grids the most in a century.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
None. Anything I know now will be obsolete by the time they start work.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Midafternoon
What's the best pitch you ever got?
Fake accident report on a wrecked police chief's car
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Pretty much anything that doesn't reflect on the value of a publicly traded security. That's what I cover at Bloomberg.
What's your favorite drink?
Water
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Riding my bicycle
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
New York Times
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That oil prices matter to electric utilities.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.