How do you approach building your network of sources?
I view it like watering a plant. You need your sources to keep coming to you. You need them to keep trusting you. So it’s not a one-and-done thing. I just cast a really wide net. I try to talk to people in City Hall, but also anyone I can think of who talks to Mamdani. I have a list of sources I want to meet with every month. It’s extremely long. I probably get through about half of it, and I just keep it going.
How do you get a scoop? Do you just ask for one?
The best way to get a scoop is to have good instincts. Maybe three-quarters of the time, a good scoop comes because something was gnawing at me. There are definitely times where someone calls you and has a hot scoop or a handout, but most of the time it happens when something seems amiss to me, and I start picking at it. Good stories really come more from your own instincts and your own knowledge.
What’s the first news source you check in the morning?
For as long as I’ve worked in New York, the cover of The New York Post has helped set the agenda. Politicians react to it, often negatively, but they’re reacting no matter what. It’s just extremely influential.
What advice do you have for young journalists who want to cover politics?
Nowadays, in this hyperpartisan era we’re living in with declining trust in media, it’s harder than it used to be to convince people that you’re objective. But I still believe in that principle, and I approach the work that way. I talk to everybody on all sides of the spectrum, and I try to include all perspectives in how I decide what to cover and how to cover it.
What story lines will you be watching in the coming year?
I’m trying to figure out what sort of a politician Mamdani will be. The palpable excitement around him is understandable, but it’s mismatched with the actual power of the mayoralty, which is not really a job where you can fundamentally change capitalism. You can’t really weaken corporations. He’s not a federal official. And so how he keeps his base energized and animated, and how he actually does attempt to change life in New York with the limited tools he has, is very interesting to me.
