Rachel Walker
Verified
(She/Her)
As seen in:
Good Nature,
The Telegraph,
The Washington Post,
Chron,
Flipboard,
The Minnesota Star Tribune,
The Philadelphia Inquirer,
Outside Magazine,
The Denver Post,
Detroit News,
AARP
and
Covers:
Outdoor adventure, travel, skiing, trail running, mountain biking, environmental, recreation industry, wildlife management, endangered species act, parenting, book reviews.
Doesn't Cover:
Fashion, beauty.
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Environmental reporter, Jackson Hole News, Wyoming.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Of course!
How is social media changing news?
It's accelerating the speed of the news cycle and allowing for more diverse voices and perspectives.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
To be a journalist is to be curious and thorough and to have the privilege to indulge those traits through writing (for me) and publication.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Email is ideal, but I also am open to pitches over Facebook and Twitter.
What's your favorite social network?
For discovering news and new contacts: Twitter; for inspiration: Instagram; for keeping up with contacts: Facebook
Who do you wish followed you?
Rebecca Traister and Ariel Levy
Why did you become a journalist?
Because I wanted to write, and I wasn't interested in academia. It was the best accidental career choice of my life.
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?
Hard to say. I loved interviewing Lindsey Vonn, I relish the stories I reported as a news reporter, but polar bears in AK might be my fave.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Stay persistent, have thick skin, do good work, and pick up the phone to call your sources.
What's your favorite drink?
Sparkling water or single malt, neat.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Trail running or skiing.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
New York Times, Atlantic, Harpers, New York Magazine.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
For travel writing it's that we're just a bunch of hacks who are obliged to sugar coat the story.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.