What was your first job as a journalist?
I published a letter to the editor in The Richmond News Leader when I was ten years old. It was about Earth Day.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes
How is social media changing news?
It's a slow and painful death by a thousand cuts. People flock to the shiny zingers online and avoid long-form journalism.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Harriet the Spy.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
A journalist is motivated by what informs best, not by what sells well.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
Not so funny, except to the reader
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
With enthusiasm
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
My CSUF library professor emeritus account, NYT archives
What's your favorite social network?
I do not have a favorite.
Who do you wish followed you?
Musicians
Why did you become a journalist?
To speak truth to power.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
I did not work for my high school newspaper but I did sing in an all-girl acapella group modeled on The Supremes.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
A series of personal profiles about global Japanese that I wrote for The Journal, a publication of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Be independent of thought and embrace fact-checking
When's the best time to pitch you?
Anytime, unless I've turned off all notifications on my phone. Then I'm working.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
The New York Times graphic editor called me right after 9/11 and said, "I hear you are all things propaganda."
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
I never got the worst pitch, except in softball. Our league was called Miss Softball America.
What's your favorite drink?
Iced coffee
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Walking in the sunshine.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
New York Magazine
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That opinion writing is just from the top of one's head. It requires a lot of research and fact-checking.
