What was your first job as a journalist?
Documenting the UCLA experience
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes
How is social media changing news?
I think social media has made news faster, louder, and more emotionally reactive, but not necessarily better. The speed is useful, but it has trained people to consume headlines, vibes, and clips instead of context. Literacy and comprehension feel like they have dropped, and with that, the appetite for facts, nuance, and objective truth has weakened too. A lot of people do not want to understand a story. They want to feel instantly confirmed by it.
At the same time, I do think it creates an opening for journalists who can still read deeply, think clearly, verify information, and communicate it well. As more people get pulled toward noise, those skills become more valuable, not less. The edge now belongs to people who can slow the chaos down, explain what is actually happening, and earn trust through clarity. So I am pessimistic about the trend, but hopeful that real rigor will stand out more because of it.
