Zain Ebrahim
(He/Him)
Cape Town
Covers:
Art, politics, health, philosophy, technology and music.
Doesn't Cover:
Crypto, fashion, tabloid and economics.
Free🇵🇸🇸🇩🇨🇩🇱🇧
Computer musician, music composer
Unbearably anxious and insufferably nauseating but trying my best.
Works at: @saturaterecords @audeobox
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Writing for Mail and Guardian
Have you ever used a typewriter?
I have never
How is social media changing news?
There isn't any solid vetting which leads to not only misinformation but disinformation. However, it also allows never before seen coverage
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Spider Jerusalem from Transmetropolitian
What does it mean to be a journalist?
To maximise output and minimize harm. To be the voice of those who can't speak for themselves and to try be as impartial as possible
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
Elon Musk memes
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Via email, and ones especially pertaining to music and technology
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Google docs, wordpress, chat gpt and a thesaurus
What's your favorite social network?
Instagram
Who do you wish followed you?
No-one, don't follow me.
Why did you become a journalist?
I loved writing and always have, now I have purpose and meaning behind it - being a voice for the unspoken
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
I did not
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
My time spent working at Mail and Guardian - It is a serious of 3 stories following one after the other
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Always be writing, write about anything. Everything has a narrative and it's up to you to find the story of the narrative worth telling.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Anytime during the mornings or very late at night
What's the best pitch you ever got?
This was writing for Dubstep SA / Tomorrow Never Happened, a defunct blog to interview a well known South African group LARK
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
To cover a failed party in Johannesburg because my team were mislead to think it was going to be good.
What's your favorite drink?
Pineapple juice
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Sleeping
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Al Jazzera
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That I don't know what I'm doing or that I spitball everything
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.