What was your first job as a journalist?
Local newspaper reporter, covering agricultural shows, town council meetings and Magistrate's Courts.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
This is what I used to write my stories on when I was getting unpaid work experience on the Richmond and Twickenham Times, many years ago.
How is social media changing news?
It isn't "changing" news.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
I don't have one.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
You get a chance to not only try make a difference to people's lives but to also hold authority to account.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
By email, and a very brief one at that.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
A phone, pen and paper (notebook), a camera, a drone, a digital recording device, and a laptop.
What's your favorite social network?
Instagram.
Why did you become a journalist?
To try and make a difference to the lives of people, and to always keep trying, and to never give up.
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?
Avoidable preventable baby deaths in Irish hospitals, clerical abuse, abuse in the Defence Forces, and mother and baby homes
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Have a plan, accept having to work off duty/unsocial hours, be passionate, don't expect thanks and have fun.
When's the best time to pitch you?
There is no best time.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Would you like a ride in a helicopter with the CEO to visit (the site), and then go for lunch with him, and meet the board.
What's your favorite drink?
Wine.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
On the road.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Washington Post.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That journalists don't either ask the right questions, or enough questions.
