Nick McGowan
Ireland
As seen in:
Yahoo Life,
The Times,
The Irish Times,
Irish Independent,
Irish Examiner,
The Spectator Australia,
Quadrant Online,
TechRound,
ThinkBusiness.ie,
Offaly Express
Covers:
Life cover with specified illnesses, mortgage protection, income protection, serious illness cover, financial planning, financial advice, insurance brokerage and things life insurance!
Doesn't Cover:
car insurance, health insurance, home insurance, gadget insurance and anything else relating to static objects!
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Working in my family's brokerage
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes, showing my age now!
How is social media changing news?
Dramatically, democratically, for the better.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Adrian Mole
What does it mean to be a journalist?
The power of the pen (or keyboard) is mighty and it means the world to me to be able to help people through the medium of words
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
In simple terms, with the hook up front
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Mainly the Office suite and various boring calculation tools!
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter
Who do you wish followed you?
Ned Ryerson
Why did you become a journalist?
A natural talent and a real gap in the market for what I do, I guess.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Nope
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Helping people back to work and paid (or covered) during the current pandemic
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
develop your own sense of writing style and stick with it, you can't be 'liked by everyone'.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Morning, before real work!
What's the best pitch you ever got?
An opportunity to help a local childrens' poverty charity many years back, which I'm still heavily involved in to this day.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Something along the lines of 'Hello Dear.. please give me backlinks'.
What's your favorite drink?
Tea
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Walking in the local hills!
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The Guardian and The Financial Times
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That it's boring.. no wait, that's pretty true.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.