Carolyne Whelan
Verified
(She/They)
As seen in:
Medium,
Flipboard,
AlterNet,
Sierra Magazine,
Bicycling Magazine,
GearJunkie,
Inked Magazine,
Roads and Kingdoms,
Pittsburgh City Paper,
Adventure Cyclist Magazine
and
Covers:
Bicycles, outdoor recreation, road trips/#vanlife/overlanding, poetry/poetics, dogs, ecology, holistic health
Doesn't Cover:
finance, national politics, global politics, makeup
Editor in Chief at Adventure Cyclist, the magazine of Adventure Cycling. coffee, dogs, getting weird in the wilderness.
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
I edited the poetry and music sections of my high school newspaper
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes, I made most of my old zines on typewriters, and write all my love letters with a typewriter
How is social media changing news?
Immediate reactions, sure, but also multimedia, reactions attached to realtime footage or other journalists' stories
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
April from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
What does it mean to be a journalist?
it means being brave enough to confront our own (misconceptions) and call them out, to tell the truth even when it challenges the paradigm
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
I don't follow hashtags, unfortunately
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
I'm not currently an editor, but email is always best and most reliable for all parties
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Good ole-fashioned Roget's thesaurus and an extensive contact list will always be my
What's your favorite social network?
Instagram
Who do you wish followed you?
Swati Sharma, Ian Frasier
Why did you become a journalist?
I am endlessly curious and want to know the deeper inner workings of a person, a situation, a movement
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
I edited the poetry and music sections (and created them).
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
My story of retracing Peter Paal Galligan's route and connecting that with my personal and familial history
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Don't take critiques personally, nor a lack of response. Every editor has embarrassed themselves, so don't worry too much and keep on going
When's the best time to pitch you?
Tuesday or Wednesday, probably in the morning
What's the best pitch you ever got?
I can't think of a best pitch, once the pitch is received and accepted we're off to better things: the story.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Any pitch that's AI generated or worse — just reads like it is.
What's your favorite drink?
paper plane in the summer, undertaker in the winter
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
By the river with my dog, on a mountain with my bike, or in the desert with my friends
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Orion
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
Outdoor adventure can seem very "extreme" and bro-y but there's a lot of poetry and self-exploration in pushing oneself in the wilderness
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.