The Writing Coach Podcast 83: Dateline Milan with Janna Brancolini

WCP83 Dateline Milan with Janna Brancolini

Janna Brancolini is an American journalist based in Milan, Italy. She covers environmental and tax policy in Southern Europe for Bloomberg Law, and her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Columbia Journalism Review and Business Insider.  When coronavirus hit Northern Italy in February, Janna’s freelance work dried up.

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Janna Brancolini is an American journalist based in Milan, Italy. She covers environmental and tax policy in Southern Europe for Bloomberg Law, and her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Columbia Journalism Review and Business Insider.

When coronavirus hit Northern Italy in February, Janna’s freelance work dried up. There wasn’t much to cover in her normal beats, and the travel story she’d been pitching was now off the table too. After initially pitching a few coronavirus stories that got rejected, she refined her angles to offer stories that nobody else was telling.

Today she shares what it’s been like to report both on the ground and remotely from Italy, how freelancers have advantages over staff, and how telling stories that are culturally unique has rapidly led to repeat work.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

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Janna Brancolini on Instagram: @jbrancolini 

“I’m not under quarantine. Am I?” in Columbia Journalism Review

“Coronavirus has turned Italy into a beautiful prison” in the Los Angeles Times (her first LA Times piece ran as a page 1 story in that edition of the paper)

“They survived World War II. Now coronavirus threatens their lives” in the LA Times

“I’m living through the coronavirus lockdown in Milan, Italy. Here’s how I’m managing my anxiety.” in Business Insider

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What should you include in a pitch to an editor?  

Check out my blueprint for writing queries that editors find irresistible. Click here to download a copy of the free eguide, “5 Proven Steps to Writing Queries that Sell.”