Tom Rollins
As seen in:
HuffPost,
Al Jazeera English,
Gnet Radio,
VICE,
United Press International (UPI),
The National,
Al-Monitor,
Atlantic Council,
Middle East Eye,
Backstage
and
Covers:
human rights, protests and activism, labour, egyptian politics, israel-palestine, media, press freedoms
Analyst/researcher & non-resident scholar with @MiddleEastInst. Tweet about Syria & vinyl.
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Waiter/freelancer
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Embarrassingly enough, yes.
How is social media changing news?
It's ultimately more democratic because of social media - there's more debate, accountability and diversity of voices
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
The one in Stephen Colbert's White House Correspondents Dinner speech.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
The one Abdullah Assem tweeted about Lamees al-Hadidi.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Via email, generally.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
A smartphone and laptop.
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
I wrote pretentious culture features about Primal Scream and Richard Brautigan (as well as some theatre and books reviews).
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Covering the Khaled Said trial in Alexandria this year.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Keep going.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Any time.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.