Walt Mossberg Quotes

Well I just always wanted to be a newspaper reporter.

I wanted to be a journalist for a long time.

I started on the fringes of journalism as a cartoonist on The Daily Mail.

I covered Congress, and everyone always wanted me to be a political reporter.

From breaking down the latest headlines on 'FOX News @ Night' to explaining the complexities of the law, I have had the opportunity to report from the front lines of the major stories emanating out of Washington.

I always wanted to be part of the media. I knew I wanted to work as a journalist.

Covering Capitol Hill was my first assignment in political journalism, and I still think it is the best beat in Washington.

Do you know what White House correspondents call actors who pose as reporters? Anchors.

That's a paradox I've noticed, too: The news business held little romance for me, yet writing about it somehow stirred my affections.

I've had a lot of fun, and when I talk to kids in journalism schools, I say, look, I know what the journalism teachers tell you that this is a great way to perform public service and all that, but I say the main reason, if you decide what you want to do is be a reporter, the main reason you want to do it is because it's just so much fun.

It's not like I just have to go to Washington and go to the White House everyday, and go to the same press conference at 10 in the morning and then be briefed at 4 in the afternoon, and then get a story on at 6.

Newspapermen ask dumb questions. They look up at the sun and ask if it is shining.

With news, especially investigative pieces, you've got to be really smart and really lucky to be timely and to not get beaten by the big guys. You can't go head-to-head with the networks.

AP promoted me to the White House beat because I knew Clinton, his family, friends, and staff better than anybody in the national press corps. Those contacts helped me break a few stories and get my career in Washington jump-started.

Traditionally, what we in the news business do is cover what happened yesterday.

I'm a journalist and that's what I do.

Chicago, with its big newspapers and major broadcasting stations, couldn't have been a better city to start a journalism career.

Andy Stasiuk was a newsman of the old school of front-page journalism - tough, knowledgeable, cynical, single-minded and fun. He covered the news as a happy warrior in an era of cutthroat editorial competition.

Only two journalists followed the team around.

Washington newspaper men know everything.

Presidential coverage used to be a very serious endeavor.

And I've been incredibly lucky to have a long career in journalism that has given me a front-row seat to some of the most important moments in modern American political life.

Every time I watch CNN, it feels like you're assigning me homework. Is Trump a Russian spy? I don't know. You tell me - I'm watching the news. It feels like I'm watching CNN watch the news. Just take an hour, figure out what you want to say, then go on the air.

Some years ago, I was fortunate enough to land a reporting job at 'The Washington Post,' which pretty much put me in a state of constant awe. Bob Woodward would dish up ice cream sundaes for anyone stuck working on the weekend.

I've always thought of myself as a journalist; that was what I did.