Paul Bobnak
As seen in:
Total Retail,
Printing Impressions,
Print & Promo Marketing,
NonProfit PRO,
In-plant Impressions,
Mailing Systems Technology,
Midland Paper,
Packaging Impressions
Covers:
printing; direct mail; marketing; inkjet; retail marketing; omnichannel marketing; nonprofit fundraising and marketing
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
high school newspaper
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes - a manual Remington and an IBM Selectric.
How is social media changing news?
It's giving the public - for better or worse - a chance to connect directly with journalists.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Mikael Blomkvist from the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Being a journalist means listening and seeing something or someone, and then communicating to others
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
by email
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
laptop with Google apps, Zoom, email
What's your favorite social network?
LinkedIn
Who do you wish followed you?
Marketing people with hiring power at top brands
Why did you become a journalist?
To help people tell their stories
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
writing and layout
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Probably a series of interviews with marketing and ad decisionmakers I wrote for a magazine supplement a few years ago.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Ask people lots of questions, and network relentlessly, Everyone has a story.
When's the best time to pitch you?
I prefer East Coast times between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
for a white paper that eventually turned into a video shoot as well
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
a spam request that got my name and my write niche wrong, and had contact info for someone in Nigeria
What's your favorite drink?
craft beer
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
hiking
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Washington Post
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
that print, direct mail, and marketing are boring, dated, and dead
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.