A veteran journalist has never had time to think twice before he writes.
When I started out as a music journalist at the end of the 1980s it was generally assumed that we were living through the lamest music era the world would ever see. But those were also the years when hip-hop exploded beatbox disco soared indie rock took off and new wave invented a language of teen angst.
It's a little bit in the genes because my brother is a journalist and my father was a sports writer.
In emerging democracies like Russia in authoritarian states like Iran or even Yugoslavia journalists play a vital role in civil society. In fact they form the very basis of those new democracies and civil societies.
I mean Britain is a country of successful Muslim businesspeople teachers and educators journalists. So we have to say very strongly that the two million plus Muslims in Britain the vast bulk of them make a huge contribution to our society and they actually make it the vibrant society it is.
The smarter the journalists are the better off society is. For to a degree people read the press to inform themselves - and the better the teacher the better the student body.
This much we know: Journalism is not a precise science. It's on its best day is a crude art. We make mistakes I make mistakes. With more than 50 years as a journalist I have at least had the opportunity to blow more stories make more mistakes than maybe anybody in television.
Here in the United States our profession is much maligned people simply don't trust or like journalists anymore and that's sad.
My relationship with the journalists who covered the campaign was complicated. I often hid from the critical eye of their cameras and their omnipresent digital recorders wary of the critique implicit in every captured moment. But I also grew to respect and understand their passion for their work their love for the journey we were sharing.
Although we were never pals and occasionally butted heads my relationship with Clinton and his wife Hillary made me a better journalist.