Mark Harper
Verified
As seen in:
The Daytona Beach News-Journal,
MSN,
Yahoo Entertainment,
Yahoo Life,
ResearchGate,
The Independent (UK),
USA Today,
Yahoo Canada,
Yahoo News,
Yahoo News New Zealand,
Aol
and
Covers:
Politics, government, transportation, jobs, education
Longtime newspaper guy who posts mostly about politics and local news, but dabbles a bit in music, baseball and the hashtag arts. Not the British MP.
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Chief reporter, The Ball State Daily News.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
The quick fox jumps over the lazy dog.
How is social media changing news?
Despite promises to connect, I fear it's driving us into corners.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Slap Maxwell. I dunno. I prefer non-fictional journalists.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
It's having the audacity to marry the new with the known and the humility to mix in the unknown. God's work.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
I read good emails.
What's your favorite social network?
1) Bars. 2) Facebook. 3) Twitter.
Who do you wish followed you?
Why did you become a journalist?
My baseball career stalled at 15. My next love was news.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes. I did a little of everything there. Including art. Awful, sprawling centerpieces that make me cringe even today, some 30 years later.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
"Keeping Community in our Colleges," 2008. http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20080420/ARTICLES/304209999/0/search
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Don't do it unless you are curious about things than you're not. Also, don't blow off math and science. Everything's useful.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Between 9:37 a.m. and 9:38 a.m.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
I like what RealtyTrac does, providing data often intersects with issues of interest to newspapers: real-estate trends, foreclosures, etc.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
"You need to cover this ..."
What's your favorite drink?
Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale (no more though)
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
At the beach or in my yard.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The New York Times
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That it's to be pitied. It's not. Really.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.