What was your first job as a journalist?
Daily newspaper reporter, after year interning on three different outlets
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Sure ... manual as well as electric.
How is social media changing news?
Dramatically, for the good and for the bad.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
The duke
What does it mean to be a journalist?
A reporter in the 60's, columnist in the 21st century, I've witnessed the evolution of "objectivity." Building trust today a heavy lift.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
don't pay attention.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Use your imagination.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
MS Office suite, email, text, audio and video conferencing, web search, learning management systems, relatively few apps
What's your favorite social network?
LinkedIn for professional networking. I am impatient with and critical of contemporary social media.
Who do you wish followed you?
My columns are behind a paywall ... would like more people in local and regional business and civic community to follow me.
Why did you become a journalist?
Tell the truth. Make the complex simple. Expose the bad guys.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes, my first job in journalism. Don't remember specifics. What needed doing, surely.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Hard to pick from 50-year career. Steady production of 800-word columns for five years.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Go for it. Don't let others talk you out of it.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Not looking for glory.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
One referencing something specific I've written.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
No memory ...
What's your favorite drink?
Bourbon and water
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
in the classroom ... back in the old days.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Wall Street Journal
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That business is predictable, orderly, boring ... and that there is only one way to lead.
