What was your first job as a journalist?
Crime reporter for a small daily in the Hudson Valley, unless you include my high school newspaper in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
I started out on one.
How is social media changing news?
Not for the better. In the race to be first, accuracy and good writing skills have suffered and disinformation can quickly spread.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) in "His Girl Friday."
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Taking readers on an honest journey to unfamiliar places and perspectives without an agenda.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
email
What's your favorite social network?
Instagram
Why did you become a journalist?
Happenstance. Sure glad it happened.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes. I covered pretty much everything. Really bad at selling ads, though.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
I covered a disturbing triple murder case over the course of three years, including live blogging all three of the defendants' trials.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Listen to your editors but never kowtow. Keep an open mind and your opinions out of your news stories.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Mornings.
What's your favorite drink?
Manhattan on the rocks.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Walking my dogs.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Smithsonian magazine
