Muck Rack Interview

I filled out an interview while updating my Muck Rack profile just now, so I thought I would repost it here for your edification:

What was your first job as a journalist?
I worked in London covering open source and security news for The H.

Have you ever used a typewriter?
Oh yes. I sometimes write blog posts on my Olympia Colortip S, actually — it is on my desk at all times.

How is social media changing news?
Social media isn’t changing the news, it is the news now

Who’s your favorite fictional journalist?
William de Worde from Terry Pratchett’s novel The Truth.

What does it mean to be a journalist?
Tell the truth as you see it without compromise and don’t care what anyone thinks about it. Never let anybody stop you from asking questions.

How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Give me as close to the facts as you can get and as much detail as you can. And please don’t try to bullshit me. Ever.

What tools and software do you use to do your job?
VS Code, Markdown, Lua, a hardened Linux desktop, paper notebooks and a good pen with Uni-Ball 207 refills

What’s your favorite social network?
Jaiku was arguably the best, now its Twitter (or X), but these days I think we should go back to having our own websites we control ourselves.

Who do you wish followed you?
I don’t think it is healthy for journalists to write for impact. You should do a story because you think it needs to be told.

Why did you become a journalist?
Because most journalists weren’t doing the job well — first and foremost, they weren’t in service to their audience and I wanted to change that.

Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
No, I didn’t. Back in high school, I was busy playing with computers.

What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
A blog post of mine once got the German tax forms changed, that was pretty cool. My Modern Solution coverage was also important, I feel.

What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Don’t study journalism. Study a topic you want to write about. Anybody serious about it can pick up the actual craft of writing pretty quicky.

When’s the best time to pitch you?
It doesn’t matter what time it is. If it’s actually a good story, I will make enough coffee to get me through it.

What’s the best pitch you ever got?
I get my best pitches from whistle blowers. The best information tends to be illegal.

What’s the worst pitch you ever got?
Most pitches are pretty bad. I often get people trying to bullshit me on technology they know nothing about. These days it’s often AI-related.

What’s your favorite drink?
You can’t beat a good ale.

When you’re not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
In a Muay Thai gym or on my motorcycle.

Aside from your own, what’s your favorite publication to read?
The Register is pretty good, generally. County Highway intrigues me. Otherwise, I pick and choose on Substack.

What’s the most common misperception about your beat?
That technology will change the world for the better.