Lee Mannion
London
As seen in:
Medium,
Daily Mail,
Reuters,
Terra,
The Telegraph,
Yahoo Finance,
Sydney Morning Herald,
The Globe and Mail,
Agenda (World Economic Forum),
Global News
and
Not really looking at this very much
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Apart from freelance, Content Editor for Pioneers Post magazine.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
No
How is social media changing news?
Better headlines to stand out in a sea of choice; shorter attention spans.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
George Pelecanos, Jonathan Franzen, Ian McEwan, Lee Child
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Trying to entertain and inform.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
Nothing stands out.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
A suggested headline and three sentences to get me excited about the story.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Ageing MacBook, Google suite. That's all you need... maybe a newer laptop.
What's your favorite social network?
Love/hate relationship with all of them.
Who do you wish followed you?
Any of The Sundays or Stewart Copeland.
Why did you become a journalist?
Love writing.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
No.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Most recently the story of Cracked It, a social enterprise that engages former offenders by teaching them to fix smartphones.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Write. Get it out there, get your bylines, hype it on social media. My first employer read my stuff online and liked my style.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Anytime if it's a good idea.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
Can't remember.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Anything overly jargon-y where I don't get the story after three sentences.
What's your favorite drink?
Guinness.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Outside in the real world.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Sunday Times Magazine, Positive News, Guardian Weekend
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That positive stories are fluffy. Go on and read all your depressing distraction if you want to.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.