Meet the Media: Cassie Harwood

Calendar Editor, East Bay Express
 1.)     Tell us about your dream assignment.
 My dream assignment already came true when I got to write about the Wiener Nationals race at Golden Gate Fields. There’s not really anything sweeter or cuter in the world than a bunch of tiny-legged dachshunds running around. Oh my god. Actually though, I can’t say specifically what my dream assignment would be because the story might not even exist yet. I’m still very much at the beginning of my career, but I hope I can someday write something that blows the lid off some serious evildoings!
 2.)     What is your PR pet peeve?
 Probably when a PR person pitches me a story and then offers to write it for me.  I don’t think I need to explain why this would be a very bad practice, journalistically, but there’s also the fact that I actually enjoy writing stories. If I had someone else doing it for me then there’d be no work left for me to do.
 3.)     Describe the wackiest story you’ve written.
 I went to Northern Ireland for a journalism program while I was a student at San Francisco State, and I went into it thinking I was going to write some serious story about sectarian politics or something. What I ended up covering was this silly sporting event called Bog Snorkelling, where people wore snorkels and swam through this slimy dirt channel carved into a bog. They came out of the water looking like dirt monsters and it was really gross and hilarious.
 4.)     Top trend in the industry you’re currently covering or are interested in.
I haven’t been working in the news industry for very long so I’m still kind of feeling things out and finding my niche. I will say that I think I was born a few years too late, because I am not really feeling the information overload that comes with Twitter and other networking sites. Everything moves so fast that I feel like it’s become very difficult to really absorb things. I’m trying to work out some kind of middle ground.
 5.)     Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m from the East Bay and I live and work in Oakland. I just finished my journalism degree and was really lucky to get a job as the calendar editor at the East Bay Express. It is the coolest job ever—especially compared to cashiering at a grocery store, which I did for five years while I was in school. Ack!
 Email me at [email protected].