What was your first job as a journalist?
Compiling the Broadway grosses at the late, lamented Daily Variety.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes.
How is social media changing news?
At its best, it can democratize coverage, but it also allows people who are good at social media to appear more legitimate, often wrongly.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
William Boot.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
It means having access to power and the freedom to say what you want without fear of censure, and the responsibility to tell the truth.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
I have never seen a funny news-related hashtag
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
telepathy
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Coffee, pens, paper, audio recorder, laptop, phone.
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter, for all its faults. It has huge systemic problems but it's also a democratic forum, largely for screaming.
Who do you wish followed you?
the really pretty long-haired feral cat who always runs away from me in the park
Why did you become a journalist?
I thought I'd be able to make a difference to people who didn't have institutional power on their side as a matter of course.
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?
An essay about visiting Disney World with my wife.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Give yourself time to have a life outside of your work. It will make you a more desirable colleague and a better writer and observer.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Whatever year the most recent Blade Runner sequel is set.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
An oppo dump on a company that was misusing sensitive data.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
This question is a bottomless pit.
What's your favorite drink?
An old fashioned.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Playing with my kid at a park or in our apartment, or taking him for a ride on the bus.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Kramers Ergot.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That journalists are part of the same power structures they cover. They're part of different, parallel power structures.
