What was your first job as a journalist?
$35 web pieces.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes.
How is social media changing news?
Depends.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Ron Burgundy
What does it mean to be a journalist?
It means providing a service to readers. It means putting yourself into interesting and complex situations and sharing compelling stories.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
It'll be funnier if I tell you in person.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
By name and by someone who sees a connection to my beat.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Write-in-the-rain pads. Pencils. Dry bags. Micro 4/3 camera. Mac and requisite software.
What's your favorite social network?
LinkedIn for keeping track of all the connections and for identifying and making new ones.
Who do you wish followed you?
I have no such wish.
Why did you become a journalist?
A curiosity about the world and a compulsion to share the stories I find.
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?
The first assessment of evacuee living conditions in the tent and trailer camps after Hurricane Katrina
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
1) Of course you can do it. 2) Build a chair you can sit on. Then decorate it.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Anytime. I check email when I can.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
"Come get on a float plane to fly up near the Yukon..."
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
It is a tie between a camping panini press and a solar powered safari hat.
What's your favorite drink?
Ardbeg neat
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
On the water or in the woods.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
Folks think its all Top 10 lists and How-tos. There's lots of interesting characters, complex questions, and compelling stories to be found
