Journalism is nine-tenths being in the right places at the right time.

The business of funding digging journalists is important to encourage. It cannot be replaced by bloggers who don't have access to politicians, who don't have easy access to official documents, who aren't able to buttonhole people in power.

Hard news really is hard. It sticks not in the craw but in the mind. It has an almost physical effect, causing fear, interest, laughter or shock.

Journalism is nine-tenths being in the right places at the right time.

The truth is, "What is a journalist?" is one of those questions for which there is no proper answer. The prehistory of modern journalism shows it has been a ragged and confusing trade all the way through.

The British happened to the rest of the world. Now the world happens to Britain.

Journalism is often simply the industrialisation of gossip.