Questionnaire for Journalists: Pamela Mitchell, Yahoo! Finance
ERPR’s series, “Questionnaire for Journalists,” features members of the media and asks about their lives and careers.
Pamela Mitchell, digital producer
I connected with Pam Mitchell, digital producer at Yahoo! Finance.
How did you first get into journalism/media? What was your first job in journalism/media?
I think I always knew that I wanted to do something where I had to write and I like watching TV. So, for me becoming a producer, I knew very early on in high school. When I went to college, I immediately declared my major because I knew I wanted to get into the industry in some capacity.
My first job was a trainee in the Creative Services Department at the local Fox Channel. When you’re in their trainee program, they kind of placed you wherever they needed someone. So I would do my production assistant duties and I would also record to fit in on the voiceover record with their voiceover artists.
I think that production assistants and interns, they have so many more opportunities today and they're able to do so much more then than I was. I look at many of the production assistants that Yahoo and Yahoo Finance and they are writing segments and producing and doing everything that producers do. They are producers. So I think getting into the industry now people have a lot more opportunity.
How do you decide what to cover?
I've been on several of the shows just because that's how it's worked out. But all of the shows that we have with Yahoo Finance they're always based on pitch meetings. And, and our pitch meetings, what we do is we'll pitch what might fit. Sometimes I'll pitch things that I know that they'll go for. I mean, our show is definitely more market heavy and they like heavy hitter analysts and people that are very well versed in the finance, industry and stock markets.
So, there's not really much room for like I would say that not more flow, let's say lighter story times, Friday and the second hour of our show, we'll do something that might be lighter, but it's still business oriented. So the pitches obviously have to be business oriented.
Right now, everything is well, because things are now opening up, it's now turned to how is the world going to look post-Coronavirus and what is everybody going to do? How is the stock market going to go, what is going to happen with the economy? We really pitch you pitche stories and depending on the point of the show and the people that are looking for information about the stock market and tickers, high profile tickers, and companies and things like that.
What is the most interesting news story you’re following right now that you’re not covering?
I am immersed in harder news stories and news of day stories and obviously financial news, but that's because it's my job. But, I'm a Daily Mail reader.
If you weren’t in journalism, what would you be doing?
I would've been an FBI or CIA agent. Or a DJ. I've always loved music. My Spotify playlist is fire it is. I also love like murder, mystery intrigue, any shows like Dateline, that sort of thing. I love that stuff, Forensic Files, anything like that.
What do you read or watch every morning?
Every morning we just have to get plugged into what's going on. So I go to Wall Street Journal, a New York Post business, Reuters.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Nice expensive things. I like diamonds and designer purses.
Where would you most like to live?
I love hot weather. I love the sun. When I graduated college, I was looking for work wherever so I was sending resumes to jobs in New York and then also Los Angeles. And it just happened that I live in New Jersey so getting a job in New York was just easier. But if I had gotten a job in California, I would have gone to California. And I just have always imagined myself on the West Coast for some reason. I still think that that's something that could happen. But I don't know. But I like warm weather. So, let's just say Southern California.