Maricarmen Amado
Verified
(She/Her)
As seen in:
New Jersey Hispano
Covers:
Local news at the New York metropolitan area (NJ, NY, part of CT), including education, immigration, climate change, environmental protection, politics, community, human rights and health issues.
Doesn't Cover:
Crime
News Editor NJH, NYH
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
I was a script writer for the host of a Catholic news radio program and did short interviews with the bishops i Lima, Peru, for that program.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes
How is social media changing news?
The normal flow of information that was published by the media in general is changing. Although social networks reach people massively, now there is no way to control or verify the information.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Stephen Colbert
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Being a journalist is being a professional dedicated to informing what happens in our communities, truthfully, independently, and above all, educating people and verifying that elected officials and the government do their job.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
I pass it
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
A writing that includes the background of the news and what is the importance of the article for readers or users.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Just my desktop, laptop, tablet, and Word. Very simple.
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter and Threads
Who do you wish followed you?
All colleagues interested in meeting a journalist who loves justice, diversity, community and life.
Why did you become a journalist?
Because I believe that information and its dissemination is a great power of knowledge for the community and that it is necessary to work with heart so that the people are informed.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yeah. He wrote some articles about students who achieved high grades.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
On how the Covid-19 pandemic affected communities of color, especially undocumented immigrants who could not receive financial aid.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
That they read a lot and connect with the community to get to know their problems well, and be able to adequately report on these issues.
When's the best time to pitch you?
evenings
What's the best pitch you ever got?
About a story of a teenager who preferred suicide, not having the love of his father and stepmother, and who to calm his sadness and depression, played his trumpet every afternoon when his parents went out and left him locked up alone.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
On a immigration issue to announce a law against immigrants.
What's your favorite drink?
Wine
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Mobile
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
New York Times
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That what can be covered or what is there is covered, but in reality each news or each situation is covered with the same passion that a human story is covered.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.