5 Questions with Kurt Wagner, associate editor, social media, at Re/code
by Sharon Kane, @SharonTully
Eastwick hosts a monthly “Media Meet & Greet” session with top journalists in the tech media scene, followed up with tips and tricks for working with the media in our “5 Questions with…” series.
This month’s “5 Questions with…” blog features Kurt Wagner, associate editor, social media, at Re/code, where he covers news and trends around companies like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Snapchat. Prior to joining Re/code, Kurt covered tech and social media at Mashable and Fortune.
Follow Kurt on Twitter @KurtWagner8 and Re/code @Recode.
Interested in joining our next Media Meet & Greet, or is there someone you’d like to see profiled? Email sharonk@eastwick.com and check out our recent conversations with Fusion, Bloomberg West and Fortune.
- What are your “Do’s” and “Don’ts” when it comes to pitching?
Keep emails and subject lines super short. Please make sure you know my beat — I get tons of emails that have nothing to do with social. I almost never respond to those. Any “embargo” that you send me before I’ve ever agreed to honor it is clearly not a story worth writing.
2. What are your deadlines like, and is there a certain time of day you like to be pitched? Do you prefer phone or email?
My schedule is very inconsistent, so it’s hard to pick one time of day where I am readily available or reading email. Pitches in the late afternoon/early evening typically usually face less competition in my inbox.
3. Do you find social media useful in connecting with PR people or sources?
It can be helpful with sources, and it can, at times, draw my attention to a pitch in my inbox that I have overlooked. But primarily it’s only useful for an introduction. After first contact, I prefer to move things to email or text.
4. Who was your best interview and why?
One of my favorite interviews of all time was this conversation with Justin Hartfield, the CEO of Weedmaps. He was super honest and interesting even though he worked in what felt like a taboo business at the time.
5. What makes a good spokesperson or source?
People who tell it how it is. And people who pick up the phone and are willing to chat even if it doesn’t directly benefit them. So much of our job is exchanging info over long periods of time. People who only like to talk when it benefits them are often poor sources.
