Michael Hastings Quotes

A good journalist is modest; his only job is simple: to decide what counts as news.

For the most part, if somebody approaches me and says, 'I'd like to interview you,' who am I to say no, when I spend all my days going, 'Hello, you don't know me. I'd like to ask you some questions. Do you have a little time?'

Whenever you're reporting, there's always something you can't say or write, but the questions, you always want to get as close to that line as possible. You want to ask the tough questions.

I'm in the business, as a journalist, of asking tough questions.

I'm an expert on the NewsHour and it isn't how I practice journalism. I am not involved in the story. I serve only as a reporter or someone asking questions. I am not the story.

It must be quite rare for an interviewer to be interviewed.

I never use the word 'I' when I interview someone. I think it's irrelevant.

My job is to cover the news and do it accurately and fair. And we do.

I once interviewed Anthony Burgess on the radio. I played pop records between the conversation.

Journalism is not a precise science, it's a crude art

Journalism is not easy. It's the first rough draft. I don't think you need to wait around until you have the definitive thing. You record what's there; don't delude yourself that this is the ultimate historical view.

I'm not an expert on journalistic standards. I want to be clear on that.

Columnists must make sure that when they describe an event, they are being accurate in their description. When they quote someone, they are required to do so accurately. Errors that are made must be corrected openly and quickly.

There are not two sides to a story when one side is a lie. Journalists - and the rest of us - must stop giving equal time to things that don't have an opposing side.

If a journalist comes to you with a great story, one of the first questions you ask is how did you get it. How you got it is relevant to judging its accuracy and preparing yourself for any legal challenge.

I have no interest in interfering or involving myself in journalistic integrity or process.

I think the media's responsibility is to get to the bottom of things - to get to the truth.

One of the differences between what happens when an author and a gossip columnist sit down to write a book is that the former tends to make every effort at disguising and protecting their sources, while the latter doesn't particularly care.

ESPN puts out anything for clicks now, it kind of seems like.

I just don't understand why people decide to be journalists if they're not willing to investigate hard-hitting news stories.

Journalism is not writing.

When you are a journalist, you have a big responsibility towards your audience and it is important to respect that responsibility.

So often on CNN, there's a world-class journalist interviewing campaign rejects and ideologues and silly, craven people who do not care about informing people, that aren't there to help people understand what's going on in the news.

Media doesn't like when other media gets their credentials pulled - that's not OK.

I think sometimes people get distracted in interviews.