What was your first job as a journalist?
I started at the Gazette Newspapers in Maryland. There's no training like covering cops, courts, and town council meetings.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
My senior term paper was typed on an electric typewriter.
How is social media changing news?
It is allowing us to real-time access to sources, but it is also generating a lot of misinformation and fake "experts."
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Lois Lane, of course.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Email is best, but Twitter works.
Why did you become a journalist?
I wanted to be a detective, but I thought being a journalist was a little bit safer.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
I helped found the school paper and was the editor for a semester. I assigned stories, wrote stories, chose photos, and goofed off.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
It's hard to choose, but one of my faves is about how local fishermen keep afloat during COVID - and tasting some fresh uni in the process.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Find a mentor or two. Follow them around, see how they do their jobs. Take their best moves and make them into your own.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
If I'm not writing, I'm cooking or working out or weeding.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
People think I sit around eating cake all day.
