KRISTINA COOKE

By Honey Wyatt

Have you ever experienced sexism in your career?

I think everyone has, to some degree. Sometimes this can mean you are underestimated, which isn’t always a bad thing in reporting. Other times, it can be sources getting the wrong idea when you ask to meet them for a drink or dinner. I once had a source try to invite himself along on a reporting trip to Puerto Rico.

Which class did you like the least?

The class I liked least was shorthand, but there have been many times I’ve thought back to that class and wish I’d paid more attention, because you can’t rely on tape recordings for sensitive interviews or in many US courthouses.

What’s the funniest experience you’ve had on the job?

A colleague and I had been reporting for several days in Pennsylvania, when we decided to try and drive to the town where the subject of our investigation grew up. We plugged the name of the town into Google Maps and started driving about four hours across the state. But when we got there, we realised we had the wrong town. There was another town, with the same name, several hours in the opposite direction. It took a while before we found it funny.