What’s your best advice for a young journalist?

Basically, outwork everybody: Start out earlier and end your day later. Go to every stakeout that you can on a story. Always make the additional phone call. When a rival beats you on a story, try to figure out how they got it and go from there. Meet with whoever asks to meet with you, although we’re in a bit of a “gotcha” environment now, so you have to be more careful.

How do you avoid burnout?

I don’t know. I’m very tired (laughs). But we’re all very tired. I think that the demands of reporters now are very different. The only way to avoid burnout is to take cues from your body and your brain. If you’re making mistakes in your copy, take a few extra minutes and look it over a few extra times. Double-check yourself. That doesn’t really deal with the feeling of “I can’t keep doing this,” but if you need to take a break, take a break.

What’s something that newcomers to the industry might not understand about your job?

There’s a difference between letting your sources take advantage of you and having good sources.

What are the most important qualities in a journalist today?

Not being afraid. A lot of times people are afraid of writing something because someone will get mad or they’ll lose access. That can never be a concern. Ever. That was true 50 years ago, and even more so now because the culture of bullying reporters has become more intense.