What was your first job as a journalist?
Combat correspondent for Stars & Stripes during the Vietnam War, at age 19.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
yes
How is social media changing news?
Social media requires every user to be their own news editor, differentiating fact from fiction and setting their own standards for credibil.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
True journalism provides objective, unbiased news, insights, and information to interpret what's happening in the world around them.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Word, Google, ChatGBT, a wide array of periodicals
Who do you wish followed you?
National policymakers.
Why did you become a journalist?
I have a gift for writing and wanted to use it for social good.
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?
A book: "The Creeks Will Rise: People Learning to Live with Floods"
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Understand the honorable and profoundly important history of this profession. Honor it, and practice it.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Regular business hours, Central Standard Time
What's your favorite drink?
Cold water
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Reading periodicals or fly fishing
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
New Yorker magazine
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
Today, it's that journalists traffic in fake and biased news and are the enemy of the people, an image fostered by leaders afraid of daylight
