As part of our ongoing series of interviews with media people, check out the below 1:1 with Rebecca Teagarden, the associate editor for Pacific Northwest magazine at The Seattle Times. Her job is to edit all copy for the magazine, work with freelance writers and the design director on production, and write architecture and design stories for the magazine. Her pieces have become an integral part of my Sunday morning ritual – coffee combined with a peek inside people’s homes. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to interview her and to glean tips on how to best pitch story ideas.

 

How long have you been a journalist? Shockingly, I’ve been at this since full time since Dec. 17, 1979, the day I started my job as the first woman to work in sports at the Columbus Citizen-Journal. I had been the clerk in the sports department, a job I loved and probably would have to this very day had 1.) the paper not died in 1985 and 2.) my boss had not come to me and said this, “We have an opening for a full-time copy editor, and the editor wants to hire a woman (quota filler) and somebody right out of school (lowest paid on the guild scale), do you want the job?” “Ummm, no,” I said. “I want to work in features.” Boss says, “Oh, come on. It’ll be fun.” “Fun?” said I. “Yes, fun,” said he. “I promise it will be fun.” “Well, OK then, if it’ll be fun.” And you know what? It was. It was the most fun ever. We had a small staff (eight of us total). We covered all things Ohio State, the smaller colleges and professional baseball, football and basketball in both Cincinnati and Cleveland. I truly learned the art of copy editing (and by proxy writing) from the other two guys on the copy desk (one of whom had the nervous habit of pulling out his beard hairs and flicking them onto the keyboard). We worked every night like it was Election Day, laughed like hell and swore like sailors. And, the floor shook when the presses began to roll every night. (Also, I once saw a baby elephant in the newsroom and Ann Landers walking down the hall from the bathroom.) Those were the days. And if you are any good at math, you know that I am, uh, aged. I have been over the years, let’s see, a sports writer, consumer columnist, feature writer, and architecture and design writer. And an editor all of that time.   What are the characteristics of your favorite PR people? My favorite PR people are matchmakers. They have something that they truly know I might be able to use and they offer up sources and contact information. They know what I write, they’ve read it, and they also know what’s possible for our magazine, Pacific NW. In other words, they make my job easier, not harder. I always know when I’m getting a call from the person who is taking a blind potshot from halfway across the county. I let her/him get it alllllll out and then I say, “Have you ever read Pacific NW?” They will stammer and pretend that they have. And then I quiz them and tell them that I know they are lying.  Then I advise them never to do that to anybody ever again. (And I’m sure everybody listens to me and all is well afterword. Surrrrrrrre. But I do it anyway.) Also, it seems that my favorite PR people are really great, outgoing people by nature. Funny, curious, eager. I love those guys/women.   How do you find your architecture and design stories? Email mostly. Incoming. The ability to email photos has utterly changed and streamlined my job. Thank you all things digital.   Do you assign your freelance writers stories or do they come to you with story ideas? The magazine’s editor, Kathy Triesch Saul, works with freelancers. For long-timers such as Valerie Easton, Val comes up with her own topics and we fill in the budget from her. We also have a few freelancers in other departments and they, for the most part, pitch us their own topics, too. If it’s someone we don’t know, KT (as we call her) prefers to see the written piece before committing.   Where do you see print media in 5 years? Oh Lord, I try not to look. It’s not good. Most days I just tackle the task at hand and try not to concern myself with things out of my control, but it’s not good. And I will be very sad for a world that is reduced to reading headlines on tiny telephones. Perhaps these readers will look up just in time to see the Chinese marching across America. I’m being dramatic, of course, but still . . .   What makes a good press release or pitch standout? It’s short (no more than a screenful) and to the point. Please don’t ever begin with the word “When . . .” I don’t have time to get to the point. I don’t care about the history (at least up front I don’t). Tell me what it is, who’s doing it, and why it involves my area of expertise. If it’s NOT in my area of expertise, pitch somebody else. (Unless you tell me up front that you don’t know who else at the paper MIGHT be interested. I’m happy to help you there.) I think media folks who are patently rude to PR professionals are fools. I know that a good one is going to make all of us look good and help spread the word.