What was your first job as a journalist?
I was the editor of my high school newspaper. Paying job? I was the reporter/photographer/etc. of the Silverton Standard & the Miner
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes! Electric typewriter back in junior high/high school and an electric typewriter with two-lines of memory in college.
How is social media changing news?
It's breaking down the old hierarchies, for sure. It's also radically changing how we communicate and receive breaking news.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Coming up blank, so I'll say Malcolm Brautigan, who appeared in a serialized novel I wrote and published in the Silverton Mountain Journal.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
To me it means learning about an array of topics and passing what I find out onto my readers in a compelling, clear way.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
I honestly don't remember. I see a lot that I like but I don't retain them.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
e-mail
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
A MacBook Pro with the Apple software (Pages, Numbers) and Photoshop. A Canon EOS DSLR camera and an iPhone.
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter, for sure. Tumblr's good for photos and eye candy, though.
Who do you wish followed you?
Hmm. David Remnick, John McPhee (if he were on social media), Kathryn Schulz...
Why did you become a journalist?
I've wanted to be a writer since I was very young, and started getting into journalism in high school.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes. I was a reporter and even wrote a serialized fictional adventure sort of story. Then I was editor-in-chief.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
That's a tough one, but I'll say the Gold King Reckoning story that I just finished for High Country News.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Read. Observe your surroundings, and ask a lot of questions. Write. Repeat.
When's the best time to pitch you?
The best time is when I'm not in the middle of writing my own story. But otherwise, no preference.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
I got a couple of pitches from the late, great Chuck Bowden about the U.S./Mexico border. They were awesome.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Oh man... I've gotten a lot of bad ones, and don't even know where to begin. I get a lot from PR folks for various products that are absurd.
What's your favorite drink?
Probably coffee, honestly, a well-made cappuccino or flat white. But then, there's always wine... and gin martinis.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Hanging out with my family, running on nearby trails, or out in SE Utah, hiking canyons.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
New Yorker.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That because I'm an environmental journalist I must be on the environmental groups' side.
