What was your first job as a journalist?
Reporter with Schneps Media for the Port Washington News and Roslyn News-Times.
How is social media changing news?
Anyone can be a journalist- for better or worse.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Whatever Gen-Z "journalist" is trending on TikTok.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Otter.ai makes transcribing interviews incredibly easy, but listening to the audio is still essential for accurate quotes and notes.
Why did you become a journalist?
I wanted to combine my interests in writing and politics, but what's kept me going are the otherwise untold stories and perspectives I share.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Nope! I started halfway through college and always felt a little behind my peers, but I got a journalism job before many of them!
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
My investigation into the world of basement living across NYC gave a voice to residents who felt abandoned by their leaders.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Dig into whatever community or beat you're covering- building sources who know much more about your beat than you do makes life easier.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Anytime, although I cover the south shore of Long Island for my full-time job, so pitches for that region will get my attention.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
A former employee of a daycare center emailed me about potential mistreatment of workers and parents, leading me down a rabbit hole.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
A story I already wrote and was pitched by the guy I featured in the initial story.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That my stories aren't worth reading because they're so local. I've been scoffed at many times simply because I'm not with a larger paper.
