What was your first job as a journalist?
Editor of my high school editor, during the 2008 election.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
I have, I should more and I will.
How is social media changing news?
It's making it like a pencil that you flick back and forth: super fast but blurry in the middle.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Mr. Raul Duke.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Voice for the powerless, but also, the powerful.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
I want to hear what's the larger implications of a story, not why it's important for the audience. What does it say about us?
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Pen. Paper. Recorder. Phone. Laptop.
Why did you become a journalist?
What was I supposed to do? Go to law school?
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
I was the National Affairs Editor and Editor-in-Chief for my high school newspaper. We barely made it out of the recession.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
The Friday night hip-hop class for young inmates on Rikers Island, for VICE.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Keep digging.
When's the best time to pitch you?
All hours.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Anything from a PR rep.
What's your favorite drink?
Dr. Brown's Celray.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Outside.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The New Yorker.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That those in poverty want to be poor.
