Wes Enzinna
Verified
Finishing a book about a tent city. 2022 Whiting Non-Fiction Grantee. Words in NYT mag, New York, etc, contributing editor @Harpers, visiting prof @ColumbiaMFA
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
intern at Harper's magazine.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes, still do.
How is social media changing news?
.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Dinesh D'souza
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Tell the truth, and write well.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
I don't have Twitter.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Email, then follow-up phone call. Or phone call, then follow-up email.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
My brain.
What's your favorite social network?
None.
Who do you wish followed you?
The ghost of Michael Jackson.
Why did you become a journalist?
Because academia crushed my soul.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
No.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
All of them. Well, most of them.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Be brave and interesting.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Doesn't matter.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
Jean Friedman-Rudovsky on rapes in a Bolivian Mennonite community.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
.
What's your favorite drink?
Anything with hot sauce.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Outside.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
New Yorker
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
I don't have a beat.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.