Liz Shemaria
Verified
As seen in:
Yahoo Life,
BBC,
BBC Travel,
Business Insider,
Yahoo News Malaysia,
Tripadvisor,
Business Insider Deutschland,
Fodor's Travel,
AFAR,
Italy Magazine
and
Covers:
Food, art, culture, wellness, with a strong sense of place, and human connection.
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Reporter at the Alameda Sun in Alameda, California, where my first story was a front-page newspaper feature about a BB gun bandit.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
High school typing class was 50 minutes of keys clacking.
How is social media changing news?
Social media is making it more difficult for people to discern between news/journalism and advertising.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Carrie Bradshaw
What does it mean to be a journalist?
To report what you observe, free from bias.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
I don't pay attention to hashtags.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
At least one month in advance with a personalized email.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Notebooks and pens, my laptop and phone. Google Drive to organize documents.
What's your favorite social network?
My friends, at a table filled with snacks and drinks.
Who do you wish followed you?
The editor I'm pitching.
Why did you become a journalist?
To satisfy my sense of curiosity and my need to tell stories while inspiring people to see the world in a new way.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes, I wrote a column called Vertically Challenged.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Telling the story of censored artists in Myanmar.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Passion and connections are more important than university degrees.
When's the best time to pitch you?
At least one month before a planned trip.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
I'm still waiting for it.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
A press trip invite addressed to "Dear Journalist." But it was in Italian so it was giornalista/o, meaning it was even more impersonal.
What's your favorite drink?
Cappuccino
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
At the beach.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The New Yorker
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
Travel is all about luxury and vacations.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.