What was your first job as a journalist?
Ripping copy in my dad's newsroom.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
But of course. Especially when the computers went down at CNN in the 90s.
How is social media changing news?
It's destroying institutional memory.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Lou Grant
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Truth. Justice. The American Way.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
If you mean sales-pitched, no.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Whatever gets it done.
What's your favorite social network?
Corner bar, 1980s
Who do you wish followed you?
Someone with coffee.
Why did you become a journalist?
Nature. Or maybe nurture. Or both.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Reporter, cartoonist, who remembers what
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
The one that shines light.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Be more in love with the pursuit of truth than the pursuit of clicks.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Asynchronously and well in advance via e-mail.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
High and inside.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
This'll be great experience for your portfolio!
What's your favorite drink?
What time is it?
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
In the great outdoors, unplugged.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Anything intelligent.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That I'm always out to get you.
