
Interview
Telum Talks To: David Simmons from InDaily
While each of us in the editorial team has our beats, we’re always looking for stories about Adelaide or impacting Adelaide.
David Simmons, Senior Journalist at InDaily, reveals his ideal pitch and which specific beats he is most excited to cover.
Can you describe a typical day for you as a Senior Journalist?
On a typical day, I’ll get into the office, make a coffee, skim my emails for any breaking news, and check my usual rounds - always with breakfast radio playing in the background. From there, I’ll pitch any breaking news to my news editor and get to work: making calls, researching, interviewing, writing, etc. Once our daily newsletter is sent at 12.30pm, I’ll go on lunch and return to the office in time for our editorial meeting, where we plan the next day as a team. My afternoons are generally spent working on longer-term stories via research, interviews, and getting out of the office to meet sources in person.
How does your team decide which stories to pursue?
While each of us in the editorial team has our beats, we’re always looking for stories about Adelaide or impacting Adelaide. This could be finding a local angle on the day’s big national news story, South Australian-specific data within a larger piece of research, or stories about people in and from Adelaide. An ideal pitch to myself or any other journalists at InDaily would emphasise a South Australian angle or explain why our predominately South Australian readers should care or be impacted by the story.
Which story are you most proud of, and why?
I’m particularly proud of my reporting on grassroots issues in South Australia. For example, I covered education union protests last year about a pay dispute with the state government. I am still very proud of that bundle of yarns. Recent reporting on live music venue closures in Adelaide is another beat I am pleased to say InDaily and CityMag were on top of from the get-go.
Are there specific sectors you are particularly passionate about covering in the future?
My day-to-day beat is economics and business, and I am excited about the developments in the green hydrogen space. I’m always looking for a great business story too - especially stories about founders of startups or scaleups.
What recent digital trends or innovations in journalism excite you the most?
Video is once again becoming popular for journalists to tell stories differently and meet a younger market that otherwise would miss out on those important stories, especially in a vertical format. AI will become more useful to journalists in the future, and I know many of us already use tools to make tasks like transcription faster, so I can’t wait to see what’s next on that front.
Can you describe a typical day for you as a Senior Journalist?
On a typical day, I’ll get into the office, make a coffee, skim my emails for any breaking news, and check my usual rounds - always with breakfast radio playing in the background. From there, I’ll pitch any breaking news to my news editor and get to work: making calls, researching, interviewing, writing, etc. Once our daily newsletter is sent at 12.30pm, I’ll go on lunch and return to the office in time for our editorial meeting, where we plan the next day as a team. My afternoons are generally spent working on longer-term stories via research, interviews, and getting out of the office to meet sources in person.
How does your team decide which stories to pursue?
While each of us in the editorial team has our beats, we’re always looking for stories about Adelaide or impacting Adelaide. This could be finding a local angle on the day’s big national news story, South Australian-specific data within a larger piece of research, or stories about people in and from Adelaide. An ideal pitch to myself or any other journalists at InDaily would emphasise a South Australian angle or explain why our predominately South Australian readers should care or be impacted by the story.
Which story are you most proud of, and why?
I’m particularly proud of my reporting on grassroots issues in South Australia. For example, I covered education union protests last year about a pay dispute with the state government. I am still very proud of that bundle of yarns. Recent reporting on live music venue closures in Adelaide is another beat I am pleased to say InDaily and CityMag were on top of from the get-go.
Are there specific sectors you are particularly passionate about covering in the future?
My day-to-day beat is economics and business, and I am excited about the developments in the green hydrogen space. I’m always looking for a great business story too - especially stories about founders of startups or scaleups.
What recent digital trends or innovations in journalism excite you the most?
Video is once again becoming popular for journalists to tell stories differently and meet a younger market that otherwise would miss out on those important stories, especially in a vertical format. AI will become more useful to journalists in the future, and I know many of us already use tools to make tasks like transcription faster, so I can’t wait to see what’s next on that front.
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