Andrew Smith
As seen in:
Forbes,
Newsday,
NewsNation,
KTLA-TV (Los Angeles, CA),
KDVR-TV (Denver, CO),
KOIN-TV (Portland, OR),
KRON-TV (San Francisco, CA),
KTVI-TV (St. Louis, MO),
WJW-TV (Cleveland, OH),
WOOD-TV (Grand Rapids, MI)
and
Covers:
law, crime, courts, justice, trials, appeals, hearings, lawyers, innocence, guilt
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
I was a reporter at my hometown weekly when I was in high school.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
You bet.
How is social media changing news?
It's making it easier for readers to connect with journalists and perhaps easier for journalists to present themselves as actual humans.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Minimally and efficiently, by email.
What's your favorite social network?
Facebook and Twitter are good for completely different things.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
I was the editor of my high school paper. Before that, I was its first foreign correspondent, when I lived in Australia for a year.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
I contributed to a series on nuclear waste, which was intricate yet readable. It was also important.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Be thorough. Be complete. Be fair.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Almost all of them. So many pitches have nothing to do with what I cover.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
In a courtroom.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The New Yorker
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That it's simple.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.