Michael Portillo Quotes

I suppose making documentaries is like doing journalism on film.

I love movies, I love television and I know that the kind of stuff I love to watch and that's what I want to do.

If I wanted to make something that actually made a difference roughly in this industry, I would make a documentary. That would be the closest I could come to actually try and make a difference.

Television has been very good to me. I grew up on it, and it had quite an impact on me. I'm entertaining opportunities that are coming my way.

I could learn how to press 'Record' on a tape recorder and write for a newspaper or a magazine.

All they expected me to do was rip and read the wire 'leads,' without doing any original reporting. It was pretty basic, but gave me a taste of how to combine my love of politics and broadcasting.

If you're a journalist - and I think, on some level, I'm a journalist, and proud to be a journalist, or a documentarian, however you want to describe it - part of what I do has to be the pursuit of the truth.

I'm a journalist, and I'm a filmmaker. I have an organization that's all about telling stories.

As Walter Cronkite would say, that's the way it is.

In December 2011, I will be opening up my production house, Sharmeen Obaid Films, and aspire to change the way Pakistanis approach nonfiction storytelling. There are thousands of stories to be found here.

A great byproduct of a TV show, movie, or play is when it can act as a catalyst for someone.

When I started working for Rolling Stone, I became very interested in journalism and thought maybe that's what I was doing, but it wasn't.

I like being involved in the lighter side of journalism because it serves a purpose, and it's fun. And I can keep my opinions off camera if I want.

I have this vision of maybe going the way of Bill Kurtis and, I think, Tom Brokaw, to a certain extent - the ability to not be tied to the desk anymore, but to do projects that are meaningful to you.

Tricks you need to transform something which appears fantastic, unbelievable into something plausible, credible, those I learned from journalism. The key is to tell it straight. It is done by reporters and by country folk.

Television, as you know, can kind of jettison you into a whole new world.

My heart is in television, just because it's been so good to me.

Profiles aren't journalism.

Plain truth, backed up by neither power or money, has no chance.

The news and truth are not the same thing.

I'm a writer. I've been a journalist for my whole adult life.

Entertainment is a great form of being able to tell a story and to spread a message.

Our intent is to operate Time Warner as it operates today, with autonomy in its divisions, including the world-class creative talent and journalists that make Time Warner a leader in entertainment and news.

Even though I started off being interested in news, and I spent 13 years of my career working in television sports, I always was passionate about television and movies.

I'm still hesitant to call myself a journalist. I see myself as a documentary maker who is trusted with hard-hitting current affairs issues.