Thu, 2021-04-29 04:07
Sam
Two Questions: Kia Kokalitcheva, Axios
SWMS contributor Rhiannon Pacheco writes: "Growing up in the heart of Silicon Valley, Kia Kokalitcheva grew up discussing tech over the dinner table with her engineer father -- it was inevitable that she’d end up working in tech. As VC and tech reporter at Axios, and in her former work at Fortune and VentureBeat, she’s had access to the tech scene’s who’s who."
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You may think of Cade Metz as a good writer, but he’s also a voracious reader — which in turn makes him a better writer. When Cade arrived at the idea of Genius Makers -- about “the mavericks who brought AI to Google, Facebook and the world" -- he set out to write “a nonfiction book about the AI arena, but to have it read like a novel.”
Cade Metz is consistent. We interviewed him in 2008, 2012 and 2015. Each time he has carried the same message: though he reports on tech, it’s always about the people. This week we checked in with Cade to discuss Genius Makers, his new book about “the mavericks who brought AI to Google, Facebook and the world.” Again with the people!
Forbes senior editor Alex Konrad gave us a metric ton of insight this month — one article just wasn’t enough. So this week we plumb the notebook of SWMS contributor Rhiannon Pacheco, who interviewed Alex earlier this month, and present the rest of Alex’s thoughtful and heartfelt advice for PR pros looking to win his attention.
Reuters global technology editor Jonathan Weber is back in the USA after three years based in Singapore. His role remains the same: managing a team of roughly two dozen reporters from around the world, tracking tech trends and the public companies that drive them.
[SWMS contributor Rhiannon Pacheco writes:] “Today we’re excited to launch Two Questions, an incisive, get-to-the-point interview series where we sit down with a top-tier journalist to learn what makes them tick and why they love what they do. Our inaugural guest: Forbes senior editor Alex Konrad.
Fahmida Y. Rashid is back in what PR pros call “earned media.” After three years as senior managing editor of Decipher, a cybersecurity publication from Duo Security, Fahmida is now executive editor at VentureBeat, helping the 15-year-old publication shift focus to help serve B2B technology decision-makers.
Christopher Mims isn’t your typical Tier 1 columnist. Chris reports his theses. Coming from a science background, he surrounds his opinions with lots of evidence — much of it empirical. Given the challenges associated with pitching someone like Chris, it might be best to think of him as a proxy for all of “Tier 1.”
In trendy and media trade media at least, the Substack-as-new-model-for-journalism story seems to have already come and gone. Yet there’s so much more left to tell. Perhaps the Substack story’s next phase is best told inside out, through the eyes of a newly self-minted author — such as James Ledbetter.
You’ll struggle to find a better wordsmith than SC Media senior staff writer Derek B. Johnson. SC’s most recent reportorial hire writes clearly and fluidly, with voice, just as he did previously at Federal Computer Week. Security-minded PR pros might say, “Awesome! Will he cover my client?”