CONVERSATION | CONTEXT | CLARITY | COMMUNITY
INDEPENDENT MEDIA
There’s always
more to the story.
FOLLOW
ABOUT MARC
It started in high school.
It hasn’t slowed down since.
NFL NETWORK | TV GUIDE NETWORK | ABC.COM | YAHOO | CNN | BBC | SPEED CHANNEL | WFAA | FOOD NETWORK | KTEN
I've been telling stories since I was 14 years old - when I landed an interview with Billy Joel for my local newspaper and eventually realized this was exactly what I was supposed to do with my life.
That was 1990. I've been chasing stories ever since.
The past three decades have been an incredible adventure. During that time I've reported for CNN, the BBC, NFL Network, ABC.com, Yahoo, TV Guide Network, Food Network, and more. I've been fortunate to cover Super Bowls and red carpets, sit down with celebrities and world leaders, and travel the world doing work I genuinely love. I was on air by 1995 and have been a working journalist since 1999.
Along the way, I've covered a wide range of stories, from local profiles to in-depth reports to long-form interviews, and more. Stories that really matter - affecting our communities and our daily lives.
But here's what all of that experience taught me: the best stories are rarely the ones being told loudest. There's always more to the story - more context, more nuance, more truth - than a single segment or a single headline can tell.
Marc Istook Media is a chance to go deeper. Stories, conversations, insight, perspective, all informed by decades of experience. Independent, speaking directly to you. The same standards I've held for 30 years - just more of it, and told the way the story deserves.
SOCIAL MEDIA
See for Yourself
Social media can be a megaphone for misinformation or a microphone for the truth. I'm choosing the microphone. These platforms give journalists something unique: a direct, unfiltered line between a story and the people it actually affects. No gatekeepers. No corporate filters. And a format that lets the storytelling meet viewers exactly where they are - and where more of them are going every day.
Short form or long, video or conversation, a post that makes you think or a thread that makes you act - social media has rewritten what storytelling can look like. The truth is, it doesn’t always work. But when it works, it does something remarkable: it builds communities around ideas, connects people who'd never otherwise find each other, and gives movements the kind of reach that used to require a network deal and a prime time slot.
Maybe it’s fact-checking government officials, fighting misinformation, or calling out an injustice - that’s the goal. Follow along, jump in, push back if you disagree. Healthy debate is healthy - and that’s the point.
2024 Opal Lee Goes Home
How long does it take the arc of history to bend toward justice? For the Grandmother of Juneteenth Opal Lee, roughly 85 years. In 1939, a racist mob drove 12-year old Opal and her family from their new home. But more than 8 decades later, a fortunate turn of events has her headed back, to a brand new house, on the exact spot where her family's old one once stood.
From YouTube
From Instagram
PODCAST
The Dream Job Podcast, with Marc Istook
The Dream Job Podcast originally focused on how interesting people built their dream careers - where they started, how they got there, the struggles and triumphs along the way. Now expanded to include newsmakers, unique perspectives and voices with insight into current events.
WORK WITH MARC
Need Someone Who Knows the Story - And How to Tell It??
🎤
Keynotes and panel appearances on media literacy, accountability journalism, storytelling, and navigating today's information landscape. Marc brings decades of on-camera experience and a journalist's instinct for what storytelling and what audiences want to hear.
🎯
One-on-one and group media coaching for professionals, executives, and emerging voices who want to communicate with confidence and clarity. Learn to own your narrative - from someone who's been doing it for 30 years
