Pete Hamill Quotes

Obviously I love doing newsmaker interviews, and if I can contribute in any way to that, I would love to. I love reporting, getting out in the field and talking to people about various issues.

But with nonfiction, the task is very straightforward: Do the research, tell the story.

I'm in the reporting part of journalism.

I think of myself as a journalist and a storyteller.

I'm a journalist and author. I make my living by finding things out and writing about them.

I love writing traditional magazine pieces, and especially their breadth of reporting and the deliberateness of the writing.

No ideas and the ability to express them - that's a journalist.

Report, report, report. Dig, dig, dig. Think, think, think. Don't stop being a reporter because you've become a columnist.

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.

To reconstruct stories and scenes, nonfiction writers must conduct vigorous and responsible research. In fact, narrative requires more research than traditional reportage, for writers cannot simply tell what they learn and know; rather, they must show it.

People often talk about parachute journalism, but one of the skills that you get when you are a correspondent is the ability to look at facts fast and work out what the story is.

I'm a reporter by nature, I want to know everything.

Journalism is not writing.

I have nothing to do with the selection of stories. I'm the reporter.

As a journalist, the details always tell the story.

Great questions make great reporting.

See, I have no journalism in my background, so I wasn't practised at research or writing non-fiction, nor at handling the truth in a journalistic way. Journalists know when to call a halt and write something, but I kept on looking for answers.

I don't think journalism changes. It's about digging into stories and telling them well. The basic tenets of great reporting stay the same while things around it change. Technology has made reporting easier, but it has also caused job loss. Social media has increased discussion around topics, but it has its own challenges at times.

When I'm anchoring, I miss chasing stories in the field.

As an old reporter, we have a few secrets, and the first thing is we try the phone book.

The fundamentals of what journalism is about don't necessarily change. What will change is the delivery of news.

I'm a journalist; I love doing interviews, and I hope that will continue.

I feel like, in some ways, I'm just a journalist.

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

I think journalism is useful training for a writer in the way it takes the preciousness out of the pragmatic side of the craft.