Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Writing for my school paper, 'The Argus'.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Not since I was a child.
How is social media changing news?
It makes it more widely accessible, but it also makes a lot of it unreal.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Dr Watson
What does it mean to be a journalist?
To me, it means telling people things they didn't know they should know. Doing it in a way that opens corridors of thought and inspection.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Email.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Google docs, Canva, email, WhatsApp, calendar and Squarespace for my blog.
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter.
Who do you wish followed you?
Gary Vee
Why did you become a journalist?
It is part of who I am. I am curious and like stories, so being able to tell them back is a joyful and fulfilling thing.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes, I wrote about the arts and sport.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Telling stories from the heart about places that mean something to me.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Just keep writing, one day someone will give you a chance.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Anytime.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
Probably just being asked to write honestly about fatherhood and compassion for a simple parenting blog.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Perhaps the one where they asked me to write 2000 words on football to publish on someone else's site to give me 'experience and exposure'.
What's your favorite drink?
White Russian, no, Bloody Mary.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
In a pub
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The Week, Monocle.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That I only know about sport.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.