Lucas Chapman
Georgia, Syria
Covers:
Investigations, geopolitics, daily life, culture, history, women's issues, conflict and displacement
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Editor at North Press Agency
Have you ever used a typewriter?
No
How is social media changing news?
The news cycle is a lot shorter and news can be exchanged faster but there is also a lot of misinformation
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Tricia Takanawa
What does it mean to be a journalist?
To be a human
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
Why do you keep asking this? I already said
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
By email
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Microsoft Word and Excel, Adobe Photoshop and Premiere, ACLED Conflict Database, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube
What's your favorite social network?
Facebook
Who do you wish followed you?
Blaire White
Why did you become a journalist?
I stumbled into it
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?
Following mine blast victims and deminers as they work to clear northeast Syria of mines
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Don't forget to be human
When's the best time to pitch you?
Any time
What's the best pitch you ever got?
Exploring the cultural heritage of the city of Raqqa as it rebuilds from ISIS' destruction.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Most ISIS-related things
What's your favorite drink?
Oreo and chocolate milkshake
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Hiking or swimming somewhere
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
National Geographic
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That war-stricken countries are all desolate, dangerous, terrorist-filled s***holes with nothing else to offer
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.