Karen Petersen
(She/Her)
Covers:
Politics. Arts and Culture. Travel-but with a twist, Graham Greene style.
Doesn't Cover:
Business. Sports. Government.
Citizen of the World/American Poet/ Vassar BA + Columbia Graduate School of Journalism MS. Winner of the Wil Mills Poetry Prize NOW ON Blue Sky as kushka53
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Been writing and published since I was 18 but the first big freelance piece was The NY Times in the early 80s called The Death of a Bookstore
Have you ever used a typewriter?
haha yes, I have my mother's Underwood from when she was a writer in the 1930s, in a case in the garage. I will never give it up
How is social media changing news?
REALLY? asked and answered during Obama '08
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
The editor in me cringes at the wording. Do you mean a fictional character who plays a journalist? Or someone like Tom Wolfe?
What does it mean to be a journalist?
It's a sacred access: witnessing the triumphs of the world and its tragedies, and then tell those stories in a way people can understand
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
At the end of 2024, Smerconish showed some excellent political cartoons by a variety of cartoonists
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Why the Pony Express of course - I am in New Mexico after all
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
internet, library, stored files, word perfect usually
What's your favorite social network?
face to face - best network of all
Who do you wish followed you?
couldn't care less - don't pay attention - it's the work that matters. you do the work, and they will come - if it's any good!
Why did you become a journalist?
been one since age 8 when i made up my first neighborhood newspaper lol
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
yes. Features Editor
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Covering both Intifadas, South Africa, interviewing General Khun Sa in the jungles of Burma --all were worthy, all grist for short stories
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Always be curious. Be kind and generous to those around you. Try to keep an even keel while on a story. You can cry later. Maintain standards
When's the best time to pitch you?
11-2. I'm a bear in the morning otherwise.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
Do you want to go to the island of Mauritius and do a story on one of the world's greatest conservationists, Welsh Ornithologist Carl Jones?
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
I was leaving the newsroom at The Philly Inquirer at 8pm. -You interested in covering a school board meeting? the reporter called in sick
What's your favorite drink?
Depends. Cocktail hour: tequila shot for a buzz, or a martini so I have an eventual excuse to leave. Dinner: a good rich Burgundy
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
sleeping, gardening, watching British murder mysteries, Nordic Noir,or talking philosophy w/the Tibetan Geshe next door while he cooks for me
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The New Yorker. But I have no time these days. Writing my own books.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
Today?...that everything is fake news. Quite disheartening. The press dropped the ball w/not aggressive enough pushback when this first began
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.