The central dilemma in journalism is that you don't know what you don't know.

People like to pigeonhole and say, Well, I'm a Washington insider, and you know, that's quite silly. What does that even mean?

I have gone on the air and announced my telephone number at the Washington Post. I go into the night, talking to people, looking for things. The great dreaded thing every reporter lives with is what you don't know. The source you didn't go to. The phone call you didn't return.

It's all storytelling, you know. That's what journalism is all about.

The legislator learns that when you talk a lot, you get in trouble. You have to listen a lot to make deals.

I'm not going to name some of my colleagues who are very well-known for their television presentation, but they wouldn't know new information or how to report a story if it came up and bit them.