Tom Vater
Verified
(He/Him)
As seen in:
CNN Travel,
MSN,
MSN UK,
The Telegraph,
The Economist,
The Wall Street Journal,
Barnes and Noble,
Nikkei,
Nikkei Asia,
Audible Blog
and
Covers:
Culture, lifestyle, arts, environment, minorities, business, tourism, economy, politics
Doesn't Cover:
Sports, conflict
Asia based writer of crime fiction/non fiction & writing for @NikkeiAsia, @Telegraph, @TheEconomist etc.
New true crime thriller SHARKMAN.
lnk.bio/NVUZ
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Internship at local newspaper in Germany at age 15, was sent to report on countless concerts in the region.
How is social media changing news?
Lower attention span, faster news cycle, clickbait and phone screens make word counts shorter. Harder to place long stories.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Tintin
What does it mean to be a journalist?
I am compelled to explain the world to myself, and I have the skills
Why did you become a journalist?
I feel compelled to deconstruct and explain the world to myself and have the skills to share my observations.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Published a scandalous political newsletter, got taken to court, was forced to apologize to the offended parties. All before I turned 18.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
I wrote several stories about Thailand's sacred tattoo traditions and co-wrote the first English language book on the subject - Sacred Skin. http://www.sacredskinthailand.com/
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Don't work for free, find you niche, work in multiple disciplines, learn to use multiple technologies, master different writing styles etc.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That it is financially rewarding.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.