Kelsey Thompson
Verified
As seen in:
MYSA,
Medium,
MSN,
Yahoo Entertainment,
Yahoo Life,
Nature,
Yahoo News,
PLOS ONE,
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Business Wire,
Changing America
and
hey now, this is what dreams are made of | 2x Emmy Award-winning journalist tracking all things ATX @MySA ✨ | she/her/new yorker🍊🏳️🌈
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Writing as a Gender and Sexuality columnist at Syracuse University's The Daily Orange for the 2017 calendar year.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
No.
How is social media changing news?
It has reinforced the 24/7 news cycle, along with making journalists hyper-vigilant of the need for accurate, honest, fact-checked reporting.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Lois Lane. We need more strong, independent, outspoken female journalists to act as role models for the coming generations of writers.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
A journalist is a storyteller who prioritizes truth and representation of surrounding people/communities, not just serving their own agenda.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
I prefer pitching to be a collaborative process. I love coming to the table and providing my own ideas, as well as workshopping with editors.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Wordpress, Movable Type, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Suite, Slack, Google Drive
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter has been a powerful networking tool that has led me to incredible writers and journalistic inspiration.
Who do you wish followed you?
Jake Tapper, Michael Barbaro, Megan Garber, David Fahrenthold
Why did you become a journalist?
Because everyone has a story worth telling, and I want to make it my life's mission to discover and share as many as I can.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
No, my high school didn't have a newspaper.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
My story on homeless veteran homes built by middle schoolers or a column I wrote about Brock Turner's sexual assault appeal are my favorites.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Write, write, write. Know the best interviews happen when you're in the moment with your source. Listen more than speak.
When's the best time to pitch you?
In the morning! I'm definitely more of a morning bird than a night owl.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
A story about middle schoolers installing solar panels on miniature homes, that turned into a feature story about the homeless veteran crisis
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
A male anarchy columnist wanted to write a piece at the start of the #MeToo movement about how the initiative was a Hollywood-run scam.
What's your favorite drink?
Coffee — preferably black, or with a splash of almond milk.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
On a treadmill at a gym or nursing an almond milk latte in an independent coffee shop.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Either The Atlantic or The Washington Post.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That Gender and Sexuality politics are minimalistic or just concerned with sex.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.