What was your first job as a journalist?
Unpaid internship in high school fixing errors in ads at the Edmond Evening Sun (back when it was a pm). Occasionally wrote for them.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes, my parents had one when I was growing up. We didn't own a computer with a printer until I was in high school.
How is social media changing news?
Lets people get a better look at the man behind the curtain, hopefully demystifies a bit.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Macaulay Connor in Philadelphia Story, only because I love that movie so much and have an embarrassing crush on Jimmy Stewart
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Eat bag lunches at desk often, spend way more time inside pawn shops & prisons than I would have imagined and adore the people I work with.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
during the manhunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Much needed bit of comic relief during intense week
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
E-mail, always
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Court records, interviews, Twitter, Facebook. I've found stories in bumper stickers, town statues and instagram photos.
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter. It's like cocktail party chatter, and you can interact with so many different people. But Instagram is growing on me.
Who do you wish followed you?
Celebrities bore me, so I don't really care. I like real people. Though it would be pretty awesome if Susan Orlean or Mary Roach followed me
Why did you become a journalist?
Because I figured out how unlikely it was that anyone would pay me to write poems.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes. I wrote stories and took pictures. They picked someone else to be editor, though.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
That's just too hard. I love Becoming Katie (and winning an ASNE was the berries) but I'm partial to anything that makes a difference.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Do the stories that other people don't want to do or say cannot be done.
When's the best time to pitch you?
earlier in the day- please don't call anytime near 5-6 p.m. (CST)
