Martin Cizmar

Willamette Week's Arts and Culture Editor Martin Cizmar heard he could get free tickets to a Pearl Jam concert by working at The University of Akron's student newspaper so he started writing for the Buchtelite.

Over the years, Martin has written fascinating stories about lost treasure hunters and he's antagonized rich people for the public's good. He's learned to be embarrassed by the praise lavished upon him by a local mayor at his first job in Virginia ("If the politicians of a small town are thanking you for how you do your job you are probably doing a terrible job as a reporter") and he's gotten his bosses to sign off on projects where he gets to drink tons of beer and write about it.

A fun chat with a true alt-weekly guy who says his favorite way to get a story is to "read a crappy under-reported story in a daily" and start asking questions.