#MediaMonday – Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
Today’s #MediaMonday comes to us from Christina Fuoco-Karasinski, a long-time friend and journalist who recently took on the role of content editor at AZ Big Media.
Tell us about your new position and what types of pitches you want?
I’m kind of a jack of all trades. I write stories for the magazines and website, and proof pages. I also handle the special sections. I’m looking for pitches about businesses anywhere in Arizona, as well as entertainment. But primarily Arizona businesses.
How did you get your start in journalism?
Well, my mom worked in corporate for a publishing company in Michigan and she brought home reporter’s notebooks for me to doodle in. Instead of doodling, I walked up and down the street taking notes on neighbors. (LOL) My mom and dad knew I was going to be trouble. I studied journalism at Oakland University in Rochester Hills, Michigan, where one of my advisers was journalist Kurt Luedke, who wrote “Out of Africa” and “Absence of Malice.” He told me to change my major to “hospital administration.” I didn’t even consider pivoting. I worked for the university newspaper, The Oakland Sail and then The Oakland Post. I did an internship with Olympia Entertainment (Joe Louis Arena, the Red Wings and the renovation of the Fox Theatre). So, I made sure Kurt Luedke knew about the major awards I won my senior year of college at The Daily Tribune in Royal Oak, Michigan. On that note, I knew journalism was my career when this old man wearing a trench coat came into my office in Royal Oak late at night. He had a story idea for us. It was Jack Kevorkian with his suicide machine.
As for music journalism, I started during that internship. It was a dream come true. As a kid, I always taped songs off the radio and wrote about them. Then I grew up reading Gary Graff, a prominent Michigan music journalist. He was my primary inspiration and influence. My mentor was the fantastic Mitch Hotts at the Macomb Daily in Michigan. I don’t know if either knows that.
Where did you grow up?
Proud Michigander. I was born in Dearborn, Michigan, and lived in Westland and Berkley, where I owned a home before I moved. I moved to Arizona around Thanksgiving of 2002 to be with my family. (My dad had a heart transplant around 1997.)
Favorite type of music?
I’m a sucker for pop music—Barenaked Ladies, Robbie Williams, The Script, Del Amitri and anyone from Detroit, like Jack White, Mustard Plug and Eminem. Don’t judge, but I just watched “A Very Jonas Christmas Movie” and liked it. That is a testament of my love of all kinds of music.
Favorite color?
Black. It harkens back to my days hanging out in goth bars in Michigan.
Favorite local restaurants?
The Mexicano (especially the queso fundido; the best I’ve had!), Any stand at Chase Field during baseball season.
Three things readers would be surprised to know about you?
- I’ve freelanced for Rolling Stone.com, Billboard.com and Pollstar.com
- I’ve interviewed the likes of Paul and Linda McCartney, Keith Richards, Justin Timberlake and Taylor Swift.
- I sent Steve Yzerman—a now-legendary Detroit Red Wings player—his first fan letter in the 1980s when we were both teenagers. It was so early in his career that he didn’t even have photos yet. He sent me a handwritten letter, instead.
What is the best way to reach you?
Email me at Christina.Fuoco-Karasinski@azbigmedia.com.
