What was your first job as a journalist?
My first journalist position was as a general reporter for The Jambar at Youngstown State University.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
I have not
How is social media changing news?
How is it not?
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
I love Al from Fear the Walking Dead but I also love JK Simmons' s J. Jonah Jamison. But it's hard to pass up Murphy Brown
What does it mean to be a journalist?
To me, being a journalist is finding meaning in people's stories. Everyone has a story worth telling, we just need someone to find it.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
I haven't really seen any funny ones. They're all straight forward
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
I don't really have a preference, I mostly get emails
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Right now, I use Otter.ai, my cell phone and Zoom.
What's your favorite social network?
I'm loving TikTok but I don't make videos, I just binge them lol.
Who do you wish followed you?
Oh boy, lot's of people. I guess people who enjoy my content and want to be friends
Why did you become a journalist?
I've always wanted to tell stories and there are amazing real life stories out there that need told
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Didn't have a high school newspaper
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Oh there are many but my absolute proudest moment was getting to interview a Pearl Harbor survivor before his 100th birthday.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Just do it. Put yourself out there and put the puzzles together.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Any time works.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
It was probably the first pitch I received that came directly to me instead of coming from our editor. That was a special moment
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
I don't think I have one
What's your favorite drink?
I live on iced coffee
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
probably on my couch watching TV
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
I read a lot of Variety and Screenrant and Comicbook.com.
