Oliver Bateman Does the WorkVerified account

I've written some decent features, but my ceiling as a writer of features will always be a) the publications that publish my work aren't the ones publicists and celebs want to see their names appearing in (i.e., not "legacy media"), and b) I don't put people over in my work

With regard to point b, not putting people over ... I got that from Ralph Wiley, an ex college athlete and very underrated SI feature writer who tried to understand his subjects, to distill their essence, but never to act as their admirer or hype man.

Ralph Wiley talked about that a lot in his memoir "Serenity," which focused on his analyses of various beaten-up boxers in the context of his own life. I read the book back when I was an undergrad at UNC, and it shaped my approach to this type of journalism

I'm interested in talking to strength athletes and wrestlers and so on, but I'm not some naive fan or novice learning what they do. I don't approach the work that way. I know what it is like to execute a whizzer on a 285 lb person or pause 405 on my chest

I was nothing special at any of that, of course, but I understand what it is to do those things, or to be knocked unconscious, or to even be physically tortured. So I'm not there to convey wonderment or awe, only a sense of where these folks are at a certain pt in their lives

Am I to be excited by interviewing some Instagram powerlifter who is somewhat stronger than I am, but much more popular for strength than I am? Of course not. And I make sure I convey that. What I need to explain is their experience, and my own experience helps with that

Which is why I don't do many profiles of musicians. That is not an area I know much about, relatively speaking. Staying in my lane is an obsession, but also a necessity in 2019, when writers "hot take out of their asses" in order to push paper and make a few buckeroos

I rarely profile "creatives," either, because why should I waste my shot in a magazine putting over some other "creative," doing their hype work for them, when I have to maximize my own revenue. I'll make an exception when the person is a true legend, like Ben Katchor