Lauren O'Connor-May
(She/Her)
As seen in:
Cape Community Newspapers,
Independent Online,
TygerBurger,
Plainsman,
False Bay Echo,
The Southern Suburbs Tatler,
Southern Mail,
Bolander Lifestyle,
Atlanticsun,
Table Talk,
The Capetowner
and
Covers:
Hyperlocal human interest stories and books.
Doesn't Cover:
Politics
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Working as an intern for the Plainsman community newspaper.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes.
How is social media changing news?
It is making it more fast-paced, more entertainment-based and more individual-centric.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Clark Kent
What does it mean to be a journalist?
I wanted to quote Joseph Pulitzer here but you gave me too little characters.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
I don't follow hashtags.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
I have never been pitched so I don't know. I come from a very different school of journalism where I was the one pitching.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
My brain, my talent, my experience, my resources, my sources, my laptop, my cellphone and grammar-checking AI.
What's your favorite social network?
Instragram
Who do you wish followed you?
Bookstagrammers
Why did you become a journalist?
Because I have been writing since I was a child and I wanted to work in an industry where what I wrote would have impact.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes, I wrote a feature about alumni and their past experiences of the school in yesteryear. It was the school's 50th anniversary edition.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
I can't choose one. I have written thousands - my online footprint is only from recent years. How do you choose a favourite child?
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Build a brand and base it on facts. Journalism is changing and becoming more social media-based so start building a following early.
When's the best time to pitch you?
In the early evening
What's the best pitch you ever got?
Never received a pitch.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Never receiving one.
What's your favorite drink?
A rock shandy if it is hot, a latte if it is cold.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Doing something related to my family; household chores, cooking, bathing babies, brushing hair, etc.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The Southern Cross
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That hyper local news is wishy-washy, as is perfectly illustrated by Ricky Gervais's character in After-Life.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.