What was your first job as a journalist?
Managing editor at Urban Latino magazine.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
No
How is social media changing news?
Everyone thinks they're an expert. No one reads anything or looks anything up.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Clark Kent.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
To walk a fine line between what the public needs to know and what would be unsafe to reveal.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
Not sure.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Email.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Google Drive.
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter.
Who do you wish followed you?
No one in particular.
Why did you become a journalist?
To avoid being bored at work. And to get closer to whatever truth is.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes, the yearbook and literary magazine.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
70 Million, Feeling My Flo, and Latina to Latina podcasts.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Stay curious about everything. Pause whenever your brain signals that something doesn't make sense--then pursue that like a lead.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Anytime.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
An audio story about Native American hunting rights in Yellowstone Park.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Every pitch to cover a movie.
What's your favorite drink?
Coffee.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
With my children.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Wired.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That imprisonment has an actual impact on crime rates.
