Scott Hayes
(He/Him/Dude)
Jasper
As seen in:
The Toledo Blade,
Waterloo Region Record,
Journal-News,
The Hamilton Spectator (Hamilton, ON),
St. Catharines Standard,
Welland Tribune,
St. Albert Gazette,
MountainViewToday.ca,
Penticton Herald,
RMO Today
and
Covers:
Ecology and environmental issues surrounding Jasper and Jasper National Park. Also general community news and photography as needed.
Doesn't Cover:
Very few. I have written In Memoriams of notable local figures (including one dead parrot), sports reports, arts listings, and council meeting follow-up articles. Crime and car accidents... not yet.
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Grade 5: I wrote a piece for the school newsletter on training for a city-wide intramural track meet.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes, and I still do: Smith Corona Super G.
How is social media changing news?
Too many ways to list in 200 characters or less.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Henry Hackett, played by Michael Keaton: The Paper (1994)
What does it mean to be a journalist?
It's a big responsibility and an honour to tell people's stories accurately, compassionately, and warmly.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
Don't remember.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
By email. It's just easier to keep track of them this way (my desktop is a bit of a mess of scribbled notes).
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Laptop, mobile, internet, word processor, notepad, pen, voice recorder, camera, vehicle, bicycle.
What's your favorite social network?
None, but Facebook is probably the most useful for news-gathering purposes, which makes it favoured only, not favourite.
Who do you wish followed you?
I haven't thought about it.
Why did you become a journalist?
I have always gravitated to newspapers as a way of touching people's lives via the desire to make positive change in the world.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes. I wrote one or two articles and helped with layout in the good old days of cut and paste.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
An article on a woman who recently found her long lost sister was distributed widely, helping them to find a third sibling.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Journalism isn't a dying industry; it's as vital as it was in the days of the town crier. Only the vessel of news is changing.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Anytime.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
Also impossible to tell, but anything that affects a broader part of the population in general gets more of my interest.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Difficult to say but anything that is a blatant advertisement in the guise of a human interest story is an example of a poor pitch to me.
What's your favorite drink?
A pint of Smithwick's will do.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
At the library, the gym, or the trails.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
CBC, Globe and Mail, The Guardian, Al Jazeera. Washington Post.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
Unsure, but perhaps the spectre of reporter bias persists. I've written articles about all kinds of people, and I treat all the same.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.