MacKenzie Ryan
(She/Her)
As seen in:
MSN,
The Guardian,
Yahoo News,
Yahoo Sports Canada,
BioRxiv,
The Bourne Enterprise,
ACCP JOURNALS
Covers:
Extremism, Homelessness, Criminal Justice, Supreme Court, Economy, Reproductive Rights, Outdoor Industry
Investigative Reporter + Researcher + Snowboarder
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
General assignment reporter for Finger Lakes Media
Have you ever used a typewriter?
No
How is social media changing news?
It's making it faster to search. It helps us better understand what our audience is thinking.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Gray Grantham in the Pelican Brief
What does it mean to be a journalist?
It means you care deeply about the human experience!
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
I ignore news hashtags!
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
A few sentences via email
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
LexisNexis, Maltego, PACER, Excel
What's your favorite social network?
TikTok
Who do you wish followed you?
Elon Musk
Why did you become a journalist?
My mother worked for our town government as a kid. Paying attention to politics and criminal justice became a lifelong obsession.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes, I wrote controversial opinion pieces.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
'A white nationalist pyramid scheme': how Patriot Front recruits young members for The Guardian
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Spend two years learning how to do daily reporting before forming a specialization.
When's the best time to pitch you?
The morning is preferred, but really anytime via email.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
I was emailed and asked to do follow-up reproductive rights coverage about 9 months after I broke a story about Utah's trigger ban.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
No comment.
What's your favorite drink?
Waterloo seltzer
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Trail running, riding my bike, or snowboarding. I do keep my phone on me at all times, however.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The Washington Post
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That I'm constantly internet stalking the alt-right or other extremists.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.