Tom Breunig
Covers:
Innovative cleantech and business models, usually at the R&D level or early stage implementation.
Doesn't Cover:
Policy, personnel announcements, earnings and minor incremental advances in technology.
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Writing for a business magazine called "Intrapreneur" in Boston.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes, all through college.
How is social media changing news?
I'm not touching that one. But it's not for the better.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Kermit the Frog.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Keeping the public informed. And checking facts. Not alternative facts.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
I don't follow hashtags but I make my own up. I use #notreadyforprimetime a lot in the tech biz.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
email.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
MS Word and a proprietary database of institutions that develop innovative cleantech.
What's your favorite social network?
LinkedIn, oddly enough. I find that it's helped me develop a community of sources.
Who do you wish followed you?
Technology company execs in charge of licensing. There is a ton of great cleantech from labs going begging. It's almost free for the taking.
Why did you become a journalist?
Because it was a way to persuade corporate america that there is no shortage of solutions for sustainable business. And that there is an ROI.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Nope, I was in the theater crowd. Then in college I became a theater reviewer and got to interview the Royal Shakespeare Company director.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Writing about the maiden voyage of the 747 for my sixth grade paper. Does that date me?
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
It's hard, it's tedious, but if you enjoy learning about a whole new area each day, then it's easy to go to work in the morning.
When's the best time to pitch you?
My stories are not time sensitive but I review pitches in the morning.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
Best pitch was for a solar train in Australia. It was just a cool use of technology. And they developed it because they cared.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
There are too many to count. I was thinking about using them for the screenplay of a sitcom about PR people called "The Agency."
What's your favorite drink?
I'm not one of those hard-drinking journalists. Pomegranite juice.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Outdoors on a hike.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The MIT Technology Review.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That I'm interested in the latest solar powered flashlight. When I do "gee-whiz" stories, it's more like "Sugarcane to Jetfuel" (Dec 14)
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