What was your first job as a journalist?
Opinion and analysis.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Badly dating myself, but yes. I even took typing in junior high. Thumbs were only allowed on the space bar.
How is social media changing news?
It is speeding it up. Especially OSINT Twitter feeds that are changing how wars are reported.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Lou Grant because every journalist is a curmudgeon to some extent.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
To bring truth and integrity to readers — and to hopefully convey an angle to an issue they hadn’t considered before.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
What every writer secretly fears: CareerEndingTwitterTypos
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Email or text. Brevity of pitches preserves your objectivity when it comes time to research
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
MS Word
What's your favorite social network?
Love/hate relationship with them all. You se the best in people, but also the worst.
Who do you wish followed you?
People who feel their voices are not heard. Don’t believe in “followers,” just readers.
Why did you become a journalist?
Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. I knew our world and the global order as it had existed since 1945 had forever changed in an instant.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes, but only sporadically. Dating myself again but it was mimeographed. I did more printing that writing.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Ukraine’s Dark Carol of the Satellites — Interviewing 4-year old Daryna
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Learn not to fear the word “no”
When's the best time to pitch you?
When I am awake.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
In the Garden of Armageddon.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
The one that struck me out with the winning run on second to end the game.
What's your favorite drink?
Coca-Cola.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Holding my iPhone trying to answer Twitter comments on my pieces while walking my German Shepherd.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Rolling Stone. Learned from the man who converted it from a music rag to an ad book. Gained a ton of publishing knowledge from it.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That it can’t be covered apolitically.
