What was your first job as a journalist?
sports reporter on the now defunct Port Hope Evening Guide, a daily in small-town Ontario Canada (not my fault it stopped publishing).
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes, but not since 1983.
How is social media changing news?
Fake news and citizen journalists who can't write are polluting the news.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Dr. Watson, the chronicler of Sherlock Holmes.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Sense of pride in community, a sheriff with a keyboard bringing the wrong to light is very satisfying and fun.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
Haven't seen one. I don't even use a cellphone or Tweet like Trump.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
I pitch, you catch.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
To be Mac and only Mac, that is the answer. Plus an old fashioned telephone.
What's your favorite social network?
EEEEEEK!
Who do you wish followed you?
Slight change - who do I wish could follow me. My dad who passed away in 1998.
Why did you become a journalist?
Because I couldn't write books. And have an inquisitive mind.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
We had no high school paper.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Uncovering that a new nursing home administrator lied about her credentials. After the story, she was fired.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Learn video and online media, forget about print media (newspapers) since they are falling like autumn leaves.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Jesus, that's IT!
What's the best pitch you ever got?
How many times do I have to say that I pitch, you catch.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
I pitch, you catch.
What's your favorite drink?
Beer
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Reading a book or rubbing my Jack Russell's belly.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The Toronto Star (Comic section first!)
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That I can really write for a Turkish news agency from a little town pop. 16,000 in Canada.
