Mark Simon, who comes from a baseball broadcasting background, created a podcast, The Journalism Salute, in which he interviews journalists. Over four years, he’s interviewed more than 190 journalists across many genres and beats. His work reflects the diverse work being done in journalism today. Editor & Publisher (E&P) caught up with Simon, who pushed through a remote interview while battling COVID.
E&P: Your podcast intro explains that its purpose is to demonstrate that journalists are not the enemy of the people. Can you tell me just your initial thoughts on that?
Simon: I got frustrated [hearing that journalists are the enemy]. It was a repetitive theme, and I felt powerless about it. As someone who works on the periphery of sports media but greatly respects journalism and has been reading the newspaper since I was five, I thought it would be nice to do something.
E&P: How long did it take you to get the podcast started? What was the process?
Simon: In April 2020, I started donating to journalist groups — primarily nonprofits. Out of the first 30 or 40 donations I made, I got a lot of form letters back. However, I got one handwritten note, and I felt like that person — in taking the time to do that — would probably be willing to talk to me for a pilot. So I reached out to them. The second one was the turning point. It was Eve Pearlman of Spaceship Media … At the end of our interview, she said something like, “These are good questions. I think you’ve got something here.” I took that as a compliment. I went through every nonprofit listed on the INN website and started making lists of people to contact. After several weeks, I had 10 [interviews]. And four years later...
E&P: What’s your audience like?
Simon: A lot of my audience is people who have been guests and now subscribe to the newsletter — and listen to different episodes. The other part of my audience is people who are primarily pro-whatever organization I'm talking to, and they retweeted or put it in their newsletter. I'm getting people that are already supporters of that group. Then, the third segment — the one that I really want to grow — is students. I’m hoping that students and teachers will put this to use in the classroom because it’s a great way for students to learn about all the different jobs out there. I also think those who enjoyed the podcast “Longform” would enjoy ours. We’re a podcast that aims to fill the gap it left behind.
E&P: What are some common themes you're hearing?
Simon: The one that I always bring up is that these people really care about their work, and maybe there’s an element of selection bias there — I purposely pick people who are very good at responding that way. But I think the amount of effort that people put in, whether it’s the multi-year projects the Pulitzer Prize-winning groups in Chicago did on the investigation of the police handling of missing black women cases or even the student journalists who are investigating the actions of Ben Sasse as the president before he resigned at the University of Florida [is impressive]. What amazes me is the amount of planning they put into their projects. They have spreadsheets and lists and all sorts of organization.
E&P: What else would you like editors and publishers to know about what you've learned?
Simon: There is value in learning from the experiences of others about the different types of work and the different ways that work is being done with an eye to the future because the business models are changing.
Bob Miller has spent more than 25 years in local newsrooms, including 12 years as an executive editor with Rust Communications. Bob also produces an independent true crime investigative podcast called The Lawless Files.
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