David Schaffer
Verified
Senior Digital Journalist - BBC West Midlands; married to the lovely Jane; avid traveller, love live gigs; skier; drummer; budding guitarist
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
I had my first work published when I was 18, but I got a full time contract at a newspaper on the UK's south coast a few years' later.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Not professionally, but I did work with some of the earliest desk top publishing computers.
Why did you become a journalist?
Inspired by my grandfather, who was a big figure in newspapers in the mid-20th Century, it is a vocation - I hope what I do helps people.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
I ran the student newspaper when I was at university.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Do this job because you have to - it must be a vocation - and don't be precious about your stories.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Trying to land a doorstep interview with a famous golfer when he was splitting up with his wife.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
MOJO magazine
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
People regularly believe journalists have a hidden agenda behind their writing. I'm only interested in fairness and accuracy.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.