Simon Hacker
Verified
(He/Him)
As seen in:
Diesel Car & Eco Car,
Punchline-Gloucester,
IMDb,
Birmingham Mail,
Metacritic,
nuclear-news.net,
Communicate,
Stroud Times
Covers:
Travel, culture, arts, automotive, sustainability, rewilding, business, non-Prem football.
Doesn't Cover:
Forex, celeb froth, gambling, crypto wibble.
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Stroud News and Journal, for one day, until head office told me to go to the Dursley Gazette and thereafter the Sodbury and Yate Gazette.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes, my first months of indenture as a trainee journalist, sitting in a room full of fag smoke.
How is social media changing news?
It's the lazy writer's dream. Punters are circumspect about saying anything on the street but tell you what they had for breakfast online
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Ishmael, as the eyes and ears in Moby Dick, takes some beating.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
A lot of power, in some ways, perhaps the most you can attain for the least amount of financial security?
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
None springs to mind
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Email
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Not many. A phone?
What's your favorite social network?
Not sure our compulsion for social media is a pleasure and can therefore be favoured?
Who do you wish followed you?
I don't care.
Why did you become a journalist?
I fell into it after finishing a French degree, being offered a job with my local paper. I love writing and language, so didn't hesitate
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes, I blathered on about the Egyptians and digging for old bottles.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
My first big splash for the Times, P1 of the motoring supplement, about taking Britain's 'monster 4x4 to find the monster of Loch Ness...
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Be original. Go out. Don't feed on digital froth. Believe in yourself or no one else will. Oh and do this to make the world better.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Any
What's the best pitch you ever got?
Could I fly to Italy to pick up a Ferrari (and a wad of cash) and bring the motor back to the UK, via a leisurely meandering drive?
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
God, there are so many.
What's your favorite drink?
Coffee
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Following Forest Green Rovers, the best, greenest football team in the world and fortunately my local team!
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Guardian, despite its poor support of the true left.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That journalism can't do good.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.