What was your first job as a journalist?
Sports reporter for my local newspaper, The Sligo Champion.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes, but very rarely.
How is social media changing news?
The news cycle is now phenomenally fast, much more democratic and frequently ill-informed.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Colin Bateman's Dan Starkey.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
It's a fascinating and satisfying job that offers new challenges on a regular (and often daily) basis.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
By email.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
PC.
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter.
Who do you wish followed you?
Jim Steinman.
Why did you become a journalist?
Because I wanted to work with words.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Not applicable.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
The ongoing charting of the boom in Irish crime fiction.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Write as often as you can on as diverse a range of topics as you can find.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Email never sleeps.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
"Would you like to interview Leonard Cohen?"
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
It was a fashion-related pitch. They obviously had never seen a full-length picture of me ...
What's your favorite drink?
That would largely depend on the time of day ...
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
In an armchair, reading.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The Guardian's sports pages.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That reading and watching film doesn't constitute real work. To be fair, they're not far wrong.
