tault002

Good and important question: 99% journalist, 1% dude on tv. If your only experience with me is that video, it would be easy to assume I'm just goofing off all the time. But that montage was two minutes out of hundreds of hours of work, the vast majority of the time I'm being serious because I'm talking about serious things. If I did nothing but say dumb things I'd be insufferable to work with. However whenever we have a moment where I can be silly while it's still tactful, or say something that will throw off my coworkers, I try to take it.

I put on my own makeup at 4 in the morning. I'm not good at it

Every time they see me they say "oh look who it is, the bad boy of local news". It's terrible

I'm going to answer this-- but I want to be thorough. I'm gonna answer some shorter ones and come back to it.

Nobody let me forget!

Edit: I've talked this over with my coworker Cole Miller, an outstanding reporter who is driving me right now, and we think our best answer is to keep pressing and hold your local journalists accountable. Accurate, thorough reporting should be demanded. And I hope people realize that with local news organizations, your voice really matters. We don't have millions of followers. We read what you say, and if you make good, rational points, it will affect decisions moving forward. Maybe don't write us a thesis, but definitely write us. And let people know when you think they've done a good job, too. Also definitely don't ever comment on what the women reporters are wearing.

Regarding corporatization, I think people would be surprised at how little corporate influence there is in our coverage. Of course I can't speak for Sinclair stations, but i personally have never had management at any level try to alter the tone or direction of my political reporting. Reporters at the Sinclair station in town have told me the same thing. Having said that, I personally think requiring stations to run commentary across the country with a definitive political slant has no place in journalism and I don't know a single journalist who disagrees with me.

Ultimately, everybody should double check where they're getting their information. Read things from all news levels, and read things from sources with stances you don't agree with. I think the beauty of the internet is that it allows you to learn from places and people you would have never previously experienced. I'm a much more empathetic person because of places like Reddit. But there's also so much media from so many different perspectives that if you aren't careful, you'll fall into a trap of simply seeking confirmation bias. Always be on guard against that. Just read a bunch. You'll be better for it.

When all of that fails I recommend you take 8 double stuf Oreos, put 'em in a glass, fill it up with milk and eat it with a spoon

We were transitioning to weather out of a story about an increase in shark sightings on the Oregon coast. I thought that rock was suspiciously fin-like