In a crime story, the details become tremendously important - where the staircase was in relation to the bed, for example.
The really tough thing would have been to decide to take Woodward and Bernstein off the story. They were carrying the coal for us - in that their stories were right.
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 want to get a gold star. And I know that there are places that I need to go in order to get the story right. I'd rather do it right than have to do it twice.
There have been many times when we have not run stories because we cannot get it verified.
There's definitely a delicate line you have to walk in telling someone else's story that's not quite as delicate in telling your own story. I think when I'm working on a personal story, there's less pressure to try to get it exactly right.
I think any time you've got a story based on a true story, no matter how accurate it is, obviously it's still fictitious.
I'm not 'Mr. No-By-The-Book.' I just want to make sure the character is by the book.
