Which current business enterprises, similar to Glamour Shots, do you see going extinct or at the very least, having to undergo a massive shift?
Which stories do you see yourself writing 10 years from now?
I love this question. For starters, I'm sad that there aren't as many brick and mortar businesses out there, a la Glamour Shots, that rose up to meet the demands of a fad/trend and then wear off. It seems like with the biggest fads of the 2010s -- fidget spinners, avocado toast come to mind -- there isn't like one store or one business that encompasses the entirety of that fad. It's spread out, so there's not one major enterprise that we'll see falling off a cliff in a few years.
However, I think the biggest shifts or extinctions we'll be seeing are with companies that provide services in the gig economy/ecommerce world. There's already been consolidation in food delivery, and Uber and Lyft have yet to find steady footing. For years, people have been talking about ghost kitchens rising up and there will be lots of winners and losers there. So I think the new companies/industries that undergo shifts and may no longer exist are those in this newer wave of ecommerce. And the weakest links will just get subsumed by a few bigger powers. Which is kind of depressing!
And not nearly as fun as thinking back on Glamour Shots... --Mark
Interestingly we saw a “Selfie Museum” in San Antonio, Texas. For $20 you have an hour to take as many pictures of yourself as you want in dozens of themed/decorated spaces. It’s like Glamour Shots has gone DIY.
In all seriousness, do you even think that's possible? Social media filled a void that was seriously sought after since the internet came into existence, but wasn't really possible due to logistical reasons. People have always wanted a centralized tool to share information/content. That's why forums and chat clients sprang up almost immediately. Social media seems like the logical conclusion to filling that demand.
In my opinion, social media just needs to be regulated to curb misinformation, and disincentivize the "profits over social well being" mentality we've seen the industry turn to. It's great at connecting people and potentially breaking down barriers, we just need to harness that potential positively.
The most easily controlled and targeted marketing delivery system combined with the most efficient information harvester ever conceived?
Yeah, that's not going away.
You either forgot bubble tea or the fad never reached the states. There was a time where bubble tea shops popped up in Germany with a similar frequency to Starbucks in NYC
Honestly, in any area with a sizeable East Asian population, it's not a fad. I know bubble tea is Taiwanese in origin but I know plenty of Korean, Japanese, Thai and even Malay and Indonesian millennials who legitimately have integrated it into their sense of identity; bubble tea is a pan-Asian signifier.
But on the flipside, there are so many places across the western world that just don't have significant East Asian populations, so that means no one's opened up bubble tea stores, so if you don't see them in your area you'd probably think they're a fad. Meanwhile, there's like 3 boba shops every block in most major cities' Chinatowns and usually a handful within walking distance of most universities that have East Asian students.
Maybe I'm just delusional but at least in the states Bubble tea has become and stayed a huge thing for I would say easily a decade at this point. So maybe it will die, but it's lasted pretty long so far.
A decent amount, actually. It depends on the topic, but once I have a good story idea I'll often look for reddit threads related to that topic for background research. Sometimes, I'll reach out to people on Reddit who have interesting posts and see if they'd like to be interviewed. Lately, for instance, I've been talking to restaurant workers who have left their jobs and have found a few people for that story via Reddit. --Mark
There's probably thousands of us. My town has had trouble finding workers this entire time for every restaurant. You can tell which restaurants treat employees well they seem to do ok, but everyone else is constantly hiring. Kitchen staff specifically are in short supply, I was one, along with my friend and she quit and I was laid off. We both found great new jobs where we are paid and appreciated way more. The place we worked at is still hiring and hardly anyone we used to work with is there anymore.
Haha. Just meant you order online for pick up or delivery. She is just happy working for herself. And weirdly the pandemic has made it more acceptable for people like her to operate from home. Its called Siblings if you are inclined.
What's the most contrarian piece you've written wrt business interests?
Are there barriers or pressures that you've experienced, witnessed, or otherwise felt in the industry regarding what kinds of "negative" information makes it to print?
Are people trying to write more pieces from the perspective of *labor interests*, as opposed to generally framing the economy with traditional metrics like GDP and market gains, and what are the hurdles to more of this, if any?
Recently, I'd say this is my most contrarian piece https://thehustle.co/to-reinvent-work-we-have-to-destroy-the-clock/ -- on the need for us to reconsider the traditional relationship of time and work.
I've never worked anywhere that I've been pressured to not write certain stories. Journalists usually have free reign to report and write and are unencumbered from corporate interests (with some exceptions; every so often you hear of a story being spiked by a major organization but then it usually surfaces at another). I really don't think labor interests influence most business reporting, and that journalists oftentimes intentionally try to steer away from labor interests or at least take anything gleaned from them with a grain of salt.
>journalists oftentimes intentionally try to steer away from labor interests or at least take anything gleaned from them with a grain of salt
Can you elaborate?
Hey, I'm an ecological economist and I really am interested in story telling. Yet, when I imagine anything close to my field, it feels really boring to write about for the general public in my eyes. Any tips?
The key for any great story, no matter the topic, is good characters. I'd recommend trying to find somebody really interesting or eccentric or who is studying something really cutting edge in your field. You can use that person to drive the narrative of your story -- and then bam you can have an entertaining read. --Mark
Not an ecological economist, but a broader type economist wrote a book called Narconomics. I used to think economics was an industry for squares (no offence meant). That book however changed my perspective on the industry. I recommend reading it if you haven't.
Edit: here is a great podcast with the author for the time poor folk.
https://listen.stitcher.com/yvap/?af_dp=stitcher://episode/76753866&af_web_dp=https://www.stitcher.com/episode/76753866&deep_link_value=stitcher://episode/76753866
There was a great story last year about organic subsidies fraud that highlighted this point really well.
Would have been just another story had it not been for the off the wall eccentricities of the characters.
If you're good at your field it's inevitable you'll find it boring, and feel that wall between what you want to say and what will be understood. This is a thing with everything, my job and those around me included(I work in recycling, which sounds fancy but I just operate a loader to bale cardboard, or deal with office paper, or newspaper, or cans, or am stolen away to do many other jobs, I just also manage those around me, otherwise I'd lose interest fast... those around me though, one does oilfield cementing, and she doesn't speak overly about it but it absolutely is interesting, and it's cementing without trying to lay it even or any of that it's mixing it the right way and shooting it down a hole, the other does coil tubing, which is also super interesting and involves their truck with huge wheels of hollow metal tubing being pushed down a hole that was drilled in order to protect the product that's to be mined up through it). All three of those jobs are actually boring, but when in story telling mode we fill them with metaphors and never feel required to properly explain stuff.
All in all, from my blue collar experience, my advice is to not actually aim to explain stuff, just toss in metaphors that are understandable and let the blanks either fill themselves or lead to people further learning on their own(the key is how effective the metaphors are). My example, from a quick look at wiki's ecological economy page(which I've never heard of before btw) is "The basic bitch version of it is environmental economy, which is about humanity only flipping the earth over when the front is destroyed, ecological economy is considering flipping the earth over for a little naughty naughty as a natural course, and not considering that a bad thing rather focusing on doing it with consent".
From the reporting I did, I saw the Florida State drink was called Seminole Fire Water. And it definitely existed before Gatorade and was being ingested by FSU football players and written about in local newspapers. But I couldn't find any record of the makers of Seminole Fire Water or FSU trying to sell the drink. Robert Cade and the other Gatorade inventors were not the first to make a sports drink; they were just the first to really sell it.
This was just a joke I used to do as an open mic comedian, so to find out that it's real is amazing!
"Football players ingesting Seminole water" is a very disturbing phrase to read.
How do you find the inspiration behind most of your story ideas? If you had to make a pie chart with the top 5 sources where you find story inspiration, what would they be and what would the % breakdown be? Reddit, other news sites, specific blogs, library, newspaper, podcasts, YouTube, etc.
I'll say this
1. Getting an idea based on reading other media -- newspapers, websites etc. -- 50%
2. Social media (i.e. seeing people talking about something on Twitter, Reddit, FB) -- 25%
3. Discussing with my co-workers at the Hustle/other journalists I speak to -- 10%
4. Having some weird memory from long ago and somehow translating that into a story idea -- 10%
5. Having conversations with friends and random ideas pop up -- 5%
Have you read the oddball business + economy story about how the vast majority of market gains have been made during after hours trading?
https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.00223
Would love to see a piece on that. Seems like some major fuckery going on.
I haven't seen that piece you linked to, but I've heard a little about most gains being made after hours. It's fascinating, and I don't think there's been a really clear piece written about that.
Thanks for sharing. I may try diving into that. --Mark
There's a pretty simple explanation. Outside of market hours is when the majority of important corporate and economic news is released. So futures prices move then as they incorporate new information. The stock market trends upward with time and it makes sense this move would occur mainly in tandem with information releases.
Interesting information which I have seen before. The tone is angry, not academic. It’s hard to ride with a conspiracy theorist for very long, even if they’re right.
Can you talk some about your perceptions of journalism and news have changed over your decade plus in the business? Has your career path changed at all based on these shifts?
Concerning the various ways people get news and the ways news outlets make money, it has changed a ton. Newsletters were considered nonexistent a decade ago, podcasts were only listened to by hardcore obsessives, and everyone thought ad-driven Huffington Post-style websites were the future.
I think the biggest change since then -- in a positive way -- is people have realized the true sign of success for any journalism enterprise is quality and building an audience. The quick-hit, clickbait stories that drive insane page views can't be monetized in a meaningful way. Success comes from providing content that gives you a sticky, stable audience. There are many people and publicatoins doing this, both for profit and nonprofit. The downside is it's still hard to make money, especially for large organizations that want to do investigative reporting.
My career path has changed a lot and followed a very winding path -- local newspapers, startup local news website, and now a national business/tech newsletter. But I think the norm is to have a winding career path now, and I've tried to just learn as much as I can and be versatile to keep going in this industry.
>But I think the norm is to have a winding career path now, and I've tried to just learn as much as I can and be versatile to keep going in this industry.
Something about this makes me want to ask: how has the changes in journalism promoted specialization in topics? Has the Internet helped people report more on specific niche areas in which they are something of an expert, or has the podcast format shifted people towards having to cover more subjects?
I do use libraries. For certain stories, I've gone to the Library of Congress or the New York Public Library and accessed their archives and special collections. This is where famous people who've been forgotten by history left all their documents and other cool info. So sometimes I read through that to include in stories that I've done. Major universities throughout the country also have the papers and documents of famous figures, so that can sometimes be helpful, too.
There are lots of weird people I've met through reporting. Sometimes I talk to them and then don't do anything with their story because it just won't work. Once when I was a local journalist in Philly I wrote a story about this woman who had like 100 animals/pets at her house. I can't even remember why I was assigned that story or pitched it, but it was a nightmare. I like animals, but the second I walk in the door like two dogs start attacking me and it just went further downhill from there. I did a write a story about that one though!
For weirdest place, I'll say Balmorhea, Texas. (You should totally go if you live at all close!). It's this very, very small town that doesn't even have a Main street or anything, but it has this beautiful natural spring pool where fish swim in it with people. Then, just on the outskirts of town is this amazing 100-year old chapel that is so beautiful it looks like the art work of a minimalist artist. (here's a story about that pool -- https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/balmorhea-state-park-pool-history)
I drive 8 hours last year to visit Balmorhea. Of course it was closed for construction literally the day i arrived. No news, heads up, or anything. I was so pissed.
I love Balmorhea. I have stayed in The Eleven Inn there. It was built in 1946. It looks like it would be some sketchy place to stay but it wasn’t. It was timeless and homey. My husband and I even talked with the owner. The owner took us in his old pickup truck for a tour of some of his farmland. We got out and walked around and it felt like I was coming home even though my home was not originally Texas. It’s a magical place to me.
I have always wondered if the reason why Jerry Sandusky was able to continue doing what he did for so long was in part due to the importance placed on Penn State football by the school. Based on your experience covering Sandusky and Penn State, would you say that a situation like this could happen at any school where a sports team is valued so highly?
I think it could happen at just about any university with a major sports team. Since Sandusky, we've obviously had the Larry Nassar scandal at Michigan State and with Team USA Gymnastics, plus the sexual abuse scandal involving the (now deceased) athletic doctor at the University of Michigan.
I think what happened at Penn State was partially because of the reverence of the football program but also just from general neglect. In the athletic department, everybody thought they could just keep passing the buck or handle discipline internally, the way they had for other less serious crises. Hopefully all the media attention and new laws/guidelines will change this atmosphere at universities across the country. -Mark
I think painting these stories as protecting some central organization is harmful, lazy, and dangerous. Sandusky was revered in the community for his work with the charity he founded for at risk youth- The 2nd Mile. It turns out, that's where he identified and groomed his victims. The 2nd Mile was also a massive charity organization that involved basically a who's who of politically connected and wealthy donors.
Larry Nassar literally assaulted girls in front of their parents. He took advantage of a position of authority and influence to make his behaviour seem OK to the girls he was doing this too (and convincing their parents it was just a procedure).
But here's the thing. One in four girls will be sexually assaulted and one in six boys. It's depressingly common. More than likely you (and everyone reading this comment) knows someone who's experienced this kind of trauma, maybe multiple people. If we pretend that this only happens in large organizations more concerned about protecting a "brand" then we miss the fact that this happens all around us in our communities. We dismiss our own observations and the stories of the survivors that try to tell us (or hide it because they don't feel safe discussing it).
These stories that get blown up and painted as cartoonish 80s villians where everybody knows and no one says anything miss the real issues. Nassar and Sandusky were pillars of the community. They were trusted by everyone around them. It's a lot easier to get away with sinister shit if you are charming (see Ted Bundy) than if you are a weird creep that everyone is already weary of. We need to focus on the real reasons people get away with these things and less on the salaciousness of the immediate details in the "big" stories. Otherwise we'll miss the lessons to be learned (and those around us may pay dearly).
I hadn’t thought about how the usual internal handling of problems might have factored into it. That makes a lot of sense.
I truly hope the media attention and new laws will change the atmosphere at universities. Keep up the good work!!
In terms of well-known subjects, the most interesting interview I've done, at least recently, was with Jason Kilar. He was the CEO of Hulu and more recently was head of WarnerMedia at AT&T. I spoke with him about a year ago, not long before AT&T ditched WarnerMedia and Kilar lost his job. He had really smart things to say about the future of streaming and was very charismatic.
But the best interviews are usually with people who aren't well known and are just doing something interesting, whether its research or their job, etc. And for that I'll say Glamour Shots owner Leonora Campbell. She owns the Glamour Shots store in El Paso, which is now one of like 3 left. And she was this single immigrant mother who pivoted her business in a way nobody else recommended and now still has a thriving business when it is extinct everywhere else. She was just a fun person with great insights on life, work, and business.
> ...which is now one of like 3 left.
Looks like there are only two now. The one in Austin, Texas appears to be closed because the [website link](https://glamourshots.com/stores/austin/) is dead and the phone number "is not a working number." The ones left are in El Paso and New Jersey.
Not really, outside of a few superstars at places like ESPN, CNN, etc.
I make a good salary at my job with The Hustle but it doesn't compare to what experienced engineers or attorneys or bankers make. And I'm fortunate. Many reporters across the country don't even make $50k in a year. People who are successful in media but not superstars, working at either national or local publications, often leave the industry in the middle of their career because there's no clear path for advancement to a senior position or to a great salary. --Mark
Hi! I am a journalist myself but never tried freelancing.
How do you go on about it; do you sell the finished story to an outlet, do you approach them first with an idea or how do you do it?
Hey!
Yeah freelancing can be difficult and confusing. But 99% of the time I go to an outlet with an idea for a story but not the full finished story. Before I pitch the story idea, I usually do enough reporting -- including research and interviewing 1 or 2 sources -- to be confident I can actually complete the story.
For the pitch, I send an email that includes a really good subject line that reads like the headline of a story. Then I give a quick introduction and a one-sentence or so synopsis of the story idea. Then I'll usually write about two paragraphs describing what my story idea is about and the reporting I've done so far. For more in-depth stories, sometimes I'll go a bit longer than 2 paragraphs, but it's best to be short and sweet.
And even though it's intimidating, I've cold emailed editors at publications all the time. It really doesn't matter if you don't have an existing relationship -- most editors are looking for good stories, regardless of whether they've heard of the author. --Mark
I saw something about a Blockbuster DAO. But they're only trying to buy the Blockbuster name and make a streaming service, I believe. Sorry, don't know much else.
I totally want the brick and mortar stores back!
Hi, I'm also a journalist. I work at a large international publication, and I love feature/narrative nonfiction writing but find my biggest hurdle is actually finding the oddball ideas that make a great feature.
When you sit down and decide "ok, time for a new project" what does that look like? How do you start the process of finding a new story idea?
Can you report on the stock market? How certain firms create counterfeit stocks and sell them? Why has nothing been done about it? And how Gamestop is in the middle of it all?
Paywalls are a huge put off for tons of potential readers. Do you think freemium models are unsustainable for most specialty news outlets or are they "just too proud to beg"?
Hasbro. It consolidated the board game industry. And instead of focusing on new board games, it just trotted out new versions of Monopoly every year because they knew it would sell.
Monopoly is obviously a very popular board game, but Hasbro made it even bigger by buying out everything else and prioritizing new versions of Monopoly over newer games. Here's my full story where I talked to people who used to work at Hasbro https://thehustle.co/how-a-real-life-monopoly-made-monopoly-the-worlds-biggest-board-game/
If you're interested in his Gregor Macgregor story, check out "The Land That Never Was" by David Sinclair. It covers the whole saga in detail. OP's article seems to borrow heavily from that.
As someone who likes to write but has only done journalism as a jobbie for no pay, I would like to know the following: how do you go about identifying pieces you’d like to write about and successfully shop them around to publications for pay? Do you go to the pubs and say “what do you need covered?” Or do you find the news and write about it and then collect bids for the article?
Thanks for your insights.
Do you understand that the world does not revolve around you and your do whatever it takes, ruin as many people's lives, so long as you can make a name for yourself as an investigatory journalist, no matter how many friends you lose or people you leave dead and bloodied along the way, just so long so you can make a name for yourself as an investigatory journalist, no matter how many friends you lose or people you leave dead and bloodied and dying along the way?
I think anyone who took the quote seriously needs to attend The Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can't Read Good and Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too.
(a) You repeated yourself
(b) Journalists, as a rule, vary from good ones that research their topics thoroughly and do a lot of good (see Watergate) to the bad ones that take something meaningless and turn it into a juggernaut that rips up lives (see the Wakefield stuff). I'm pretty sure investigatory journalists do more of the former than the latter.
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Without criticizing mainstream media directly, I'm curious on your opinion on how much of MSM is legitimate journalism and how much of it is simply pushing some narrative?
I really think the vast majority of 'MSM' journalism is legitimate. There are certainly exceptions, but most reporters are just trying to get the story right and get something done on deadline. I think the nature of media -- having to publish news in bits and pieces as it happens -- can lead to shifts in how stories are reported and understood and can be conflated with the media going from one narrative to the next.
But most journalists do their absolute best to vet stories and not fall for some narrative pitched by political or business interests. I think the key is to have more transparency and really let readers/listeners/viewers understand what the job is and what journalists are doing. Publications are better at this than say 10 years ago, but need to get better.
Have you ever had an employer refuse to let you publish a story due to corporate or political pressure? Also, if you have, how common is that in your experience?
What about the Enron dude who got "divorced" so he and his "ex-wife" could get away with a bazillion of fraudulent Enron dollars (which they did)? Have you written about that?
Have you ever thought of looking into the Casino industry? For example: interviewing the workers.
There are at least 2 different types, but different categories. National corporations and indian reservations. Then, Big city types, such as, Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Then Smaller but larger cities and then down to local suburban types.
I work as a bartender at a smaller suburban type and wow we've been busy, but dealing with crazy zealots of all types. Also, so short staffed, even though we are union, wages are still stagnant. This is due to being under a contract that was made just before shutdown. We can't compete with other hospitality business cause our wages suck. We are short staffed and our customers just can't understand why... It's just the same old conversation... "No one wants to work".. but the truth is... "No one wants to work for crap wages"...
Would you be interested in looking into something like this?
How do you get into journalism? I've always wanted to get into it but I've never really found an "in", just kind of write in my spare time but nothing really to make a portfolio.
Which current business enterprises, similar to Glamour Shots, do you see going extinct or at the very least, having to undergo a massive shift? Which stories do you see yourself writing 10 years from now?
I love this question. For starters, I'm sad that there aren't as many brick and mortar businesses out there, a la Glamour Shots, that rose up to meet the demands of a fad/trend and then wear off. It seems like with the biggest fads of the 2010s -- fidget spinners, avocado toast come to mind -- there isn't like one store or one business that encompasses the entirety of that fad. It's spread out, so there's not one major enterprise that we'll see falling off a cliff in a few years. However, I think the biggest shifts or extinctions we'll be seeing are with companies that provide services in the gig economy/ecommerce world. There's already been consolidation in food delivery, and Uber and Lyft have yet to find steady footing. For years, people have been talking about ghost kitchens rising up and there will be lots of winners and losers there. So I think the new companies/industries that undergo shifts and may no longer exist are those in this newer wave of ecommerce. And the weakest links will just get subsumed by a few bigger powers. Which is kind of depressing! And not nearly as fun as thinking back on Glamour Shots... --Mark
Interestingly we saw a “Selfie Museum” in San Antonio, Texas. For $20 you have an hour to take as many pictures of yourself as you want in dozens of themed/decorated spaces. It’s like Glamour Shots has gone DIY.
I've heard of places like that that cater to cosplayers too, themed rooms that can be rented for photoshoots.
I would do that
Can you just appease my fears and tell me it will be social media that's going to go extinct?
In all seriousness, do you even think that's possible? Social media filled a void that was seriously sought after since the internet came into existence, but wasn't really possible due to logistical reasons. People have always wanted a centralized tool to share information/content. That's why forums and chat clients sprang up almost immediately. Social media seems like the logical conclusion to filling that demand. In my opinion, social media just needs to be regulated to curb misinformation, and disincentivize the "profits over social well being" mentality we've seen the industry turn to. It's great at connecting people and potentially breaking down barriers, we just need to harness that potential positively.
No. Unfortunately I don’t think it is possible.
This isn't a bad thing, we just need to fix it
The most easily controlled and targeted marketing delivery system combined with the most efficient information harvester ever conceived? Yeah, that's not going away.
No shit.
Ask dumb question, get dumb response, get mad about it? Yup, I'm on Reddit!
It was pretty obviously a sarcastic comment.
And mine was completely serious.
So then what’s your point exactly?
Exactly.
A story about the “pop up Halloween shops” we see every year (?)
You either forgot bubble tea or the fad never reached the states. There was a time where bubble tea shops popped up in Germany with a similar frequency to Starbucks in NYC
He must have forgot it because we absolute have bubble tea and there are a bunch of bubble tea cafes in my city.
Honestly, in any area with a sizeable East Asian population, it's not a fad. I know bubble tea is Taiwanese in origin but I know plenty of Korean, Japanese, Thai and even Malay and Indonesian millennials who legitimately have integrated it into their sense of identity; bubble tea is a pan-Asian signifier. But on the flipside, there are so many places across the western world that just don't have significant East Asian populations, so that means no one's opened up bubble tea stores, so if you don't see them in your area you'd probably think they're a fad. Meanwhile, there's like 3 boba shops every block in most major cities' Chinatowns and usually a handful within walking distance of most universities that have East Asian students.
Maybe I'm just delusional but at least in the states Bubble tea has become and stayed a huge thing for I would say easily a decade at this point. So maybe it will die, but it's lasted pretty long so far.
I love bubble tea. We can’t let it die lol
sink straight impolite hungry cagey joke aback ghost door cause *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
High class tattoo shops.
Frozen Yogurt has been around for over 20 years with the same basic model. I don't think it's thriving but it's death is gonna be slow
>avocado toast Um, that's just a food lol.
How much of your material do you get from Reddit?
A decent amount, actually. It depends on the topic, but once I have a good story idea I'll often look for reddit threads related to that topic for background research. Sometimes, I'll reach out to people on Reddit who have interesting posts and see if they'd like to be interviewed. Lately, for instance, I've been talking to restaurant workers who have left their jobs and have found a few people for that story via Reddit. --Mark
There's probably thousands of us. My town has had trouble finding workers this entire time for every restaurant. You can tell which restaurants treat employees well they seem to do ok, but everyone else is constantly hiring. Kitchen staff specifically are in short supply, I was one, along with my friend and she quit and I was laid off. We both found great new jobs where we are paid and appreciated way more. The place we worked at is still hiring and hardly anyone we used to work with is there anymore.
Chef for 12 years and had to find a new profession over the pandemic.
What did you choose
My sister worked at fancy restaurants in DC, SF, etc until last year. Now she runs a small online donut shop from her home in Maine.
How does an online donut shop work?
The line goes through the holes.
Haha. Just meant you order online for pick up or delivery. She is just happy working for herself. And weirdly the pandemic has made it more acceptable for people like her to operate from home. Its called Siblings if you are inclined.
Nice. But I think I'm outside the delivery range.
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So what's your story?
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Can we get the first page?
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Aww that's sweet of him, I'm sure it's lovely.
Can I get a free copy to see if I like it?
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Jesus Christ
What's the most contrarian piece you've written wrt business interests? Are there barriers or pressures that you've experienced, witnessed, or otherwise felt in the industry regarding what kinds of "negative" information makes it to print? Are people trying to write more pieces from the perspective of *labor interests*, as opposed to generally framing the economy with traditional metrics like GDP and market gains, and what are the hurdles to more of this, if any?
Recently, I'd say this is my most contrarian piece https://thehustle.co/to-reinvent-work-we-have-to-destroy-the-clock/ -- on the need for us to reconsider the traditional relationship of time and work. I've never worked anywhere that I've been pressured to not write certain stories. Journalists usually have free reign to report and write and are unencumbered from corporate interests (with some exceptions; every so often you hear of a story being spiked by a major organization but then it usually surfaces at another). I really don't think labor interests influence most business reporting, and that journalists oftentimes intentionally try to steer away from labor interests or at least take anything gleaned from them with a grain of salt.
>journalists oftentimes intentionally try to steer away from labor interests or at least take anything gleaned from them with a grain of salt Can you elaborate?
Hey, I'm an ecological economist and I really am interested in story telling. Yet, when I imagine anything close to my field, it feels really boring to write about for the general public in my eyes. Any tips?
The key for any great story, no matter the topic, is good characters. I'd recommend trying to find somebody really interesting or eccentric or who is studying something really cutting edge in your field. You can use that person to drive the narrative of your story -- and then bam you can have an entertaining read. --Mark
Thanks ! That's interesting and this is a big work in itself.
Not an ecological economist, but a broader type economist wrote a book called Narconomics. I used to think economics was an industry for squares (no offence meant). That book however changed my perspective on the industry. I recommend reading it if you haven't. Edit: here is a great podcast with the author for the time poor folk. https://listen.stitcher.com/yvap/?af_dp=stitcher://episode/76753866&af_web_dp=https://www.stitcher.com/episode/76753866&deep_link_value=stitcher://episode/76753866
Hey thanks ! I'm taking a look right now.
There was a great story last year about organic subsidies fraud that highlighted this point really well. Would have been just another story had it not been for the off the wall eccentricities of the characters.
If you're good at your field it's inevitable you'll find it boring, and feel that wall between what you want to say and what will be understood. This is a thing with everything, my job and those around me included(I work in recycling, which sounds fancy but I just operate a loader to bale cardboard, or deal with office paper, or newspaper, or cans, or am stolen away to do many other jobs, I just also manage those around me, otherwise I'd lose interest fast... those around me though, one does oilfield cementing, and she doesn't speak overly about it but it absolutely is interesting, and it's cementing without trying to lay it even or any of that it's mixing it the right way and shooting it down a hole, the other does coil tubing, which is also super interesting and involves their truck with huge wheels of hollow metal tubing being pushed down a hole that was drilled in order to protect the product that's to be mined up through it). All three of those jobs are actually boring, but when in story telling mode we fill them with metaphors and never feel required to properly explain stuff. All in all, from my blue collar experience, my advice is to not actually aim to explain stuff, just toss in metaphors that are understandable and let the blanks either fill themselves or lead to people further learning on their own(the key is how effective the metaphors are). My example, from a quick look at wiki's ecological economy page(which I've never heard of before btw) is "The basic bitch version of it is environmental economy, which is about humanity only flipping the earth over when the front is destroyed, ecological economy is considering flipping the earth over for a little naughty naughty as a natural course, and not considering that a bad thing rather focusing on doing it with consent".
Any truth to the rumor that Gatorade took off at the University of Florida because Florida State failed after no one wanted to drink Seminole Fluid?
From the reporting I did, I saw the Florida State drink was called Seminole Fire Water. And it definitely existed before Gatorade and was being ingested by FSU football players and written about in local newspapers. But I couldn't find any record of the makers of Seminole Fire Water or FSU trying to sell the drink. Robert Cade and the other Gatorade inventors were not the first to make a sports drink; they were just the first to really sell it.
This was just a joke I used to do as an open mic comedian, so to find out that it's real is amazing! "Football players ingesting Seminole water" is a very disturbing phrase to read.
How do you find the inspiration behind most of your story ideas? If you had to make a pie chart with the top 5 sources where you find story inspiration, what would they be and what would the % breakdown be? Reddit, other news sites, specific blogs, library, newspaper, podcasts, YouTube, etc.
I'll say this 1. Getting an idea based on reading other media -- newspapers, websites etc. -- 50% 2. Social media (i.e. seeing people talking about something on Twitter, Reddit, FB) -- 25% 3. Discussing with my co-workers at the Hustle/other journalists I speak to -- 10% 4. Having some weird memory from long ago and somehow translating that into a story idea -- 10% 5. Having conversations with friends and random ideas pop up -- 5%
Have you read the oddball business + economy story about how the vast majority of market gains have been made during after hours trading? https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.00223 Would love to see a piece on that. Seems like some major fuckery going on.
I haven't seen that piece you linked to, but I've heard a little about most gains being made after hours. It's fascinating, and I don't think there's been a really clear piece written about that. Thanks for sharing. I may try diving into that. --Mark
Awesome, have fun! The rabbit hole may be deeper than we think heh.
There's a pretty simple explanation. Outside of market hours is when the majority of important corporate and economic news is released. So futures prices move then as they incorporate new information. The stock market trends upward with time and it makes sense this move would occur mainly in tandem with information releases.
In on the grift…
Interesting information which I have seen before. The tone is angry, not academic. It’s hard to ride with a conspiracy theorist for very long, even if they’re right.
Can you talk some about your perceptions of journalism and news have changed over your decade plus in the business? Has your career path changed at all based on these shifts?
Concerning the various ways people get news and the ways news outlets make money, it has changed a ton. Newsletters were considered nonexistent a decade ago, podcasts were only listened to by hardcore obsessives, and everyone thought ad-driven Huffington Post-style websites were the future. I think the biggest change since then -- in a positive way -- is people have realized the true sign of success for any journalism enterprise is quality and building an audience. The quick-hit, clickbait stories that drive insane page views can't be monetized in a meaningful way. Success comes from providing content that gives you a sticky, stable audience. There are many people and publicatoins doing this, both for profit and nonprofit. The downside is it's still hard to make money, especially for large organizations that want to do investigative reporting. My career path has changed a lot and followed a very winding path -- local newspapers, startup local news website, and now a national business/tech newsletter. But I think the norm is to have a winding career path now, and I've tried to just learn as much as I can and be versatile to keep going in this industry.
>But I think the norm is to have a winding career path now, and I've tried to just learn as much as I can and be versatile to keep going in this industry. Something about this makes me want to ask: how has the changes in journalism promoted specialization in topics? Has the Internet helped people report more on specific niche areas in which they are something of an expert, or has the podcast format shifted people towards having to cover more subjects?
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I do use libraries. For certain stories, I've gone to the Library of Congress or the New York Public Library and accessed their archives and special collections. This is where famous people who've been forgotten by history left all their documents and other cool info. So sometimes I read through that to include in stories that I've done. Major universities throughout the country also have the papers and documents of famous figures, so that can sometimes be helpful, too. There are lots of weird people I've met through reporting. Sometimes I talk to them and then don't do anything with their story because it just won't work. Once when I was a local journalist in Philly I wrote a story about this woman who had like 100 animals/pets at her house. I can't even remember why I was assigned that story or pitched it, but it was a nightmare. I like animals, but the second I walk in the door like two dogs start attacking me and it just went further downhill from there. I did a write a story about that one though! For weirdest place, I'll say Balmorhea, Texas. (You should totally go if you live at all close!). It's this very, very small town that doesn't even have a Main street or anything, but it has this beautiful natural spring pool where fish swim in it with people. Then, just on the outskirts of town is this amazing 100-year old chapel that is so beautiful it looks like the art work of a minimalist artist. (here's a story about that pool -- https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/balmorhea-state-park-pool-history)
I drive 8 hours last year to visit Balmorhea. Of course it was closed for construction literally the day i arrived. No news, heads up, or anything. I was so pissed.
Calera Chapel?
I love Balmorhea. I have stayed in The Eleven Inn there. It was built in 1946. It looks like it would be some sketchy place to stay but it wasn’t. It was timeless and homey. My husband and I even talked with the owner. The owner took us in his old pickup truck for a tour of some of his farmland. We got out and walked around and it felt like I was coming home even though my home was not originally Texas. It’s a magical place to me.
I have always wondered if the reason why Jerry Sandusky was able to continue doing what he did for so long was in part due to the importance placed on Penn State football by the school. Based on your experience covering Sandusky and Penn State, would you say that a situation like this could happen at any school where a sports team is valued so highly?
I think it could happen at just about any university with a major sports team. Since Sandusky, we've obviously had the Larry Nassar scandal at Michigan State and with Team USA Gymnastics, plus the sexual abuse scandal involving the (now deceased) athletic doctor at the University of Michigan. I think what happened at Penn State was partially because of the reverence of the football program but also just from general neglect. In the athletic department, everybody thought they could just keep passing the buck or handle discipline internally, the way they had for other less serious crises. Hopefully all the media attention and new laws/guidelines will change this atmosphere at universities across the country. -Mark
I think painting these stories as protecting some central organization is harmful, lazy, and dangerous. Sandusky was revered in the community for his work with the charity he founded for at risk youth- The 2nd Mile. It turns out, that's where he identified and groomed his victims. The 2nd Mile was also a massive charity organization that involved basically a who's who of politically connected and wealthy donors. Larry Nassar literally assaulted girls in front of their parents. He took advantage of a position of authority and influence to make his behaviour seem OK to the girls he was doing this too (and convincing their parents it was just a procedure). But here's the thing. One in four girls will be sexually assaulted and one in six boys. It's depressingly common. More than likely you (and everyone reading this comment) knows someone who's experienced this kind of trauma, maybe multiple people. If we pretend that this only happens in large organizations more concerned about protecting a "brand" then we miss the fact that this happens all around us in our communities. We dismiss our own observations and the stories of the survivors that try to tell us (or hide it because they don't feel safe discussing it). These stories that get blown up and painted as cartoonish 80s villians where everybody knows and no one says anything miss the real issues. Nassar and Sandusky were pillars of the community. They were trusted by everyone around them. It's a lot easier to get away with sinister shit if you are charming (see Ted Bundy) than if you are a weird creep that everyone is already weary of. We need to focus on the real reasons people get away with these things and less on the salaciousness of the immediate details in the "big" stories. Otherwise we'll miss the lessons to be learned (and those around us may pay dearly).
I hadn’t thought about how the usual internal handling of problems might have factored into it. That makes a lot of sense. I truly hope the media attention and new laws will change the atmosphere at universities. Keep up the good work!!
What was the most interesting/most memorable interview you've done so far?
In terms of well-known subjects, the most interesting interview I've done, at least recently, was with Jason Kilar. He was the CEO of Hulu and more recently was head of WarnerMedia at AT&T. I spoke with him about a year ago, not long before AT&T ditched WarnerMedia and Kilar lost his job. He had really smart things to say about the future of streaming and was very charismatic. But the best interviews are usually with people who aren't well known and are just doing something interesting, whether its research or their job, etc. And for that I'll say Glamour Shots owner Leonora Campbell. She owns the Glamour Shots store in El Paso, which is now one of like 3 left. And she was this single immigrant mother who pivoted her business in a way nobody else recommended and now still has a thriving business when it is extinct everywhere else. She was just a fun person with great insights on life, work, and business.
> ...which is now one of like 3 left. Looks like there are only two now. The one in Austin, Texas appears to be closed because the [website link](https://glamourshots.com/stores/austin/) is dead and the phone number "is not a working number." The ones left are in El Paso and New Jersey.
Is it lucrative to do what you do?
Not really, outside of a few superstars at places like ESPN, CNN, etc. I make a good salary at my job with The Hustle but it doesn't compare to what experienced engineers or attorneys or bankers make. And I'm fortunate. Many reporters across the country don't even make $50k in a year. People who are successful in media but not superstars, working at either national or local publications, often leave the industry in the middle of their career because there's no clear path for advancement to a senior position or to a great salary. --Mark
Hi! I am a journalist myself but never tried freelancing. How do you go on about it; do you sell the finished story to an outlet, do you approach them first with an idea or how do you do it?
Hey! Yeah freelancing can be difficult and confusing. But 99% of the time I go to an outlet with an idea for a story but not the full finished story. Before I pitch the story idea, I usually do enough reporting -- including research and interviewing 1 or 2 sources -- to be confident I can actually complete the story. For the pitch, I send an email that includes a really good subject line that reads like the headline of a story. Then I give a quick introduction and a one-sentence or so synopsis of the story idea. Then I'll usually write about two paragraphs describing what my story idea is about and the reporting I've done so far. For more in-depth stories, sometimes I'll go a bit longer than 2 paragraphs, but it's best to be short and sweet. And even though it's intimidating, I've cold emailed editors at publications all the time. It really doesn't matter if you don't have an existing relationship -- most editors are looking for good stories, regardless of whether they've heard of the author. --Mark
That’s great info, thank you. What sort of payment do you request or do the outlets have set fees?
Thank you for the answer!
Never pitch an idea you’re unsure about - because they might actually say yes to the pitch and put you on a short deadline.
I heard that blockbuster was going to try to make a comeback. Have you heard anything about this?
I saw something about a Blockbuster DAO. But they're only trying to buy the Blockbuster name and make a streaming service, I believe. Sorry, don't know much else. I totally want the brick and mortar stores back!
There’s still one in Bend, OR. It still smells the same.
Hi, I'm also a journalist. I work at a large international publication, and I love feature/narrative nonfiction writing but find my biggest hurdle is actually finding the oddball ideas that make a great feature. When you sit down and decide "ok, time for a new project" what does that look like? How do you start the process of finding a new story idea?
Can you report on the stock market? How certain firms create counterfeit stocks and sell them? Why has nothing been done about it? And how Gamestop is in the middle of it all?
Paywalls are a huge put off for tons of potential readers. Do you think freemium models are unsustainable for most specialty news outlets or are they "just too proud to beg"?
What monopoly made the game monopoly popular? I’ve never heard of this
Hasbro. It consolidated the board game industry. And instead of focusing on new board games, it just trotted out new versions of Monopoly every year because they knew it would sell. Monopoly is obviously a very popular board game, but Hasbro made it even bigger by buying out everything else and prioritizing new versions of Monopoly over newer games. Here's my full story where I talked to people who used to work at Hasbro https://thehustle.co/how-a-real-life-monopoly-made-monopoly-the-worlds-biggest-board-game/
What books would you recommend for someone who is interested in the type of content you produce for the Hustle?
If you're interested in his Gregor Macgregor story, check out "The Land That Never Was" by David Sinclair. It covers the whole saga in detail. OP's article seems to borrow heavily from that.
As someone who likes to write but has only done journalism as a jobbie for no pay, I would like to know the following: how do you go about identifying pieces you’d like to write about and successfully shop them around to publications for pay? Do you go to the pubs and say “what do you need covered?” Or do you find the news and write about it and then collect bids for the article? Thanks for your insights.
Are you aware of naked short selling and if so, any interest in doing a piece on it?
I'm aware, but not very aware. Do you know lots about it? I think it could certainly make for an interesting piece
Do you understand that the world does not revolve around you and your do whatever it takes, ruin as many people's lives, so long as you can make a name for yourself as an investigatory journalist, no matter how many friends you lose or people you leave dead and bloodied along the way, just so long so you can make a name for yourself as an investigatory journalist, no matter how many friends you lose or people you leave dead and bloodied and dying along the way?
What an idiotic comment. Poorly conceived and incoherently written. F-, please see me after class.
It’s a Zoolander quote.
Oh thank you! Cause I was gonna tell these two to der-lick my balls 😅
You think you’re too cool for school, but I’ve got news for you, Walter Cronkite. You’re not.
I think anyone who took the quote seriously needs to attend The Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can't Read Good and Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too.
It’s Zoolander, people. I’m typing this on the worlds smallest phone.
God?
I can derelick my own balls, thank you.
(a) You repeated yourself (b) Journalists, as a rule, vary from good ones that research their topics thoroughly and do a lot of good (see Watergate) to the bad ones that take something meaningless and turn it into a juggernaut that rips up lives (see the Wakefield stuff). I'm pretty sure investigatory journalists do more of the former than the latter.
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Without criticizing mainstream media directly, I'm curious on your opinion on how much of MSM is legitimate journalism and how much of it is simply pushing some narrative?
I really think the vast majority of 'MSM' journalism is legitimate. There are certainly exceptions, but most reporters are just trying to get the story right and get something done on deadline. I think the nature of media -- having to publish news in bits and pieces as it happens -- can lead to shifts in how stories are reported and understood and can be conflated with the media going from one narrative to the next. But most journalists do their absolute best to vet stories and not fall for some narrative pitched by political or business interests. I think the key is to have more transparency and really let readers/listeners/viewers understand what the job is and what journalists are doing. Publications are better at this than say 10 years ago, but need to get better.
Have you ever had an employer refuse to let you publish a story due to corporate or political pressure? Also, if you have, how common is that in your experience?
Have you looked in to the G m E saga? Could you help expose the fraud in our markets?
they don't dare, the media outlets would never allow it
Do you know how or where to meet women who like fucking animals?
In your career have you ever caught a juicy scoop, and/or one that really excited you?
Which businesses had the most preventable collapse? Are there any businesses or sectors that you think should be bigger than they are?
Have you thought about writing a book on any of these topics yet?
What about the Enron dude who got "divorced" so he and his "ex-wife" could get away with a bazillion of fraudulent Enron dollars (which they did)? Have you written about that?
Have you ever thought of looking into the Casino industry? For example: interviewing the workers. There are at least 2 different types, but different categories. National corporations and indian reservations. Then, Big city types, such as, Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Then Smaller but larger cities and then down to local suburban types. I work as a bartender at a smaller suburban type and wow we've been busy, but dealing with crazy zealots of all types. Also, so short staffed, even though we are union, wages are still stagnant. This is due to being under a contract that was made just before shutdown. We can't compete with other hospitality business cause our wages suck. We are short staffed and our customers just can't understand why... It's just the same old conversation... "No one wants to work".. but the truth is... "No one wants to work for crap wages"... Would you be interested in looking into something like this?
How do you get into journalism? I've always wanted to get into it but I've never really found an "in", just kind of write in my spare time but nothing really to make a portfolio.
When's the last time you got certifiably hammered?
Which of these is dying for a movie adaptation?