If the breaking news story had to do with hard news, politics specifically, I had a lot to do with it. If it had to do with music, Kurt Loder was more involved.

It's nice to know about something as soon as it happens, and obviously a newspaper can't provide that.

Online, you have things like Slate Magazine, which has a lot of commentary and analysis of stories, so it gives you a fuller picture. I would compare that to a news magazine or the New Republic.

Knowing policy does help make the gossip more understandable.

At NBC I wasn't really sure if the grandparents were going to get my sense of humor on a particular topic.

At MTV, although the audience is smaller, I found it more interesting to deliver news to a specific group of people, because my story then did not have to try to be all things to all people.

Caring about policy is important - people in washington forget.