Everyone is a journalist.
Every person is a gatherer of facts – testing and verifying them, assessing their quality and rendering judgements on truth and meaning, then communicating them to others.
This is not just the life of reporters and writers but of everyone – scientists, students, business people, laborers, sales people, lawyers, public officials, consumers and parents.
It is the community in which we all live.
How to interview and build confidence and trust
Through case studies, Woodward shows how he has done so with government officials at all levels, including presidents, CIA directors, intelligence operatives, FBI officials, senior and lower-level national security officials, top White House advisers, prosecutors, Supreme Court justices and their clerks, business leaders and members of the House and Senate and their aides.
The power of transcripts and documents
Woodward uses transcripts of interviews to demonstrate the power of listening and aggressive, patient, all-source method inquiry.
Internal government documents will be shared with students as part of the discussion.