Clayton Moore
(He/Him)
As seen in:
Yahoo Finance,
Digital Trends,
The Denver Post,
CBR,
Screen Rant,
WANF-TV (Atlanta, GA),
Crowdfund Insider,
WBRC-TV (Birmingham, AL),
LifeZette,
Indiana Daily Student
and
Covers:
Pop culture, technology, fiction, nonfiction, futurism, business, aviation, aerospace, television, film, the entertainment industry, authors, politics, law, breaking news, long-form journalism
Doesn't Cover:
poetry, relationships
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
I covered the balloon festival in Columbia, Missouri a few months before I graduated from college. It was the first story where I got paid.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
I have. I started off working on an IBM electric typewriter in 1993. I also very nearly flunked typing in high school.
How is social media changing news?
Social media changed how news is distributed, not the news itself. There are no shortcuts to investigation, research and reporting.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Raoul Duke.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
It means playing by the rules we set for ourselves as a profession, even when others are trying to bend them for their own agenda.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
By email, and in detail.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
I write on an high-end Alienware laptop using Microsoft Word as well as Skype, some transcription software, and a host of social media feeds.
What's your favorite social network?
I mostly use social networks as news feeds to keep my finger on the pulse of what's happening. I keep Facebook private and Twitter public.
Who do you wish followed you?
Probably the handful of great writers that already follow me. Most of my work is anonymous, but it's nice to be appreciated now and then.
Why did you become a journalist?
It was an accident, mostly. I never knew how to do anything but write, mostly, and I couldn't quit coming back to it over and over.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
I did, but I don't remember much about the experience. It resembled real journalism about as much as high school resembled real life.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
I was one of the last journalists to do a deep-dive profile on Senator George McGovern prior to his death in 2012. He was an incredible guy.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Be mindful of your own goals. If you really want to become a novelist or work for Rolling Stone or something, you should go do that.
When's the best time to pitch you?
During the day, by email, although I'm monitoring most of the time anyway.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
"Do you want to interview Mike Tyson?" Why yes. Yes, I do, even if it's just once.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Anything that's overly technical that is difficult to re-frame for the general public, and doesn't have a solid hook.
What's your favorite drink?
Things that are neat.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Walking along the tide pools in Monterey, California.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The usual suspects: The New York Times, the Washington Post, but also gonzo outlets like Vice or Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
I've always been a full-time freelancer, so traditional journalists don't always understand our working styles are different than newsrooms.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.