Kelly J. Baker
(She/Her)
apex predator of writing. author: Gospel According to the Klan, The Zombies Are Coming, Final Girl, etc. elder millennial. future ghost. #WritingKitties she/her
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
I was a reporter & arts critic for my community college's newspaper, where I first learned that critic shouldn't mean harshly critical.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
YES. I didn't have a computer at home in high school, so I used my mom's electric typewriter at work to type up assignments. It was painful.
How is social media changing news?
Social media shows us how folks react to stories as they break, which is cool. But I so worry about the fake news that appears too.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Lois Lane.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Being a journalist means reporting, researching & analyzing stories with careful attention to the ethical stakes of what we write.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
It has to be #capybarawatch, which was when two capybaras (adorable giant rodents) escaped from the High Park Zoo in Toronto.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
I prefer pitches to be emailed. I don't want to receive direct messages on social media with pitches.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Google docs, Microsoft Word, Dropbox, Gmail, Pocket (which is a life saver for organizing what I need to read) & notebooks
What's your favorite social network?
TWITTER. Hands down.
Who do you wish followed you?
Michelle Obama, Kate McKinnon, Laverne Cox, Rebecca Solnit, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and bell hooks.
Why did you become a journalist?
It was an accident. I wanted to be an academic, which didn't work out, so I started writing to make sense of what happened & kept writing.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes, I wrote for The Growler, my high school newspaper. I was the advice columnist, Ask My Anything. I can't believe they let me give advice.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
There are too many! I researched & reported the heck out of a story abut the harassment women in STEM face, which still makes me proud today.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Figure out what matters to you & make that your beat. I wrote about higher ed because I cared about higher ed, which is now my main beat.
When's the best time to pitch you?
I take pitches for guest submissions at any time for Women in Higher Education, but I prefer to receive pitches on weekdays.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
It's hard to say, but the pitches I received for a series I edited on albums & our feelings were the best I've ever seen.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
A remarkably casual pitch with a LONG essay attached, which had absolutely nothing to do with either women or higher ed.
What's your favorite drink?
Coffee, coffee, coffee, and coffee.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Walking the dog, reading a book/article (I still prefer to read on paper rather than online) or catering to the whims of tiny humans.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
I love New York Magazine, The Establishment, The Atlantic, Pacific Standard, NPR's Code Switch & Teen Vogue.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That higher education or religion is easy to comprehend & report on. Both beats are complicated and deserve complicated, nuanced stories.
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