I covered the White House during the Bush years when Ari Fleischer, Scott McClellan and Dana Perino were at the podium. We thought those were, at times, crazy press briefings, asking questions about major events like the Iraq War and the leaking of Valerie Plame's name and the outing of her as a CIA operative.
I would never say, as a member of the press, that there should be fewer press briefings. The more access, the better, no matter who is there or what's going on.
Cable TV? Stressful? Never.
I have been at CNN my entire career. When I first started, I raised my hand and volunteered for everything. It allowed me to get a wide range of experience and learn from the best - whether it was a cameraman or an anchorman.
Women, whatever their profession, tend to have a harder time feeling ready for a job, even though in most cases they are more than prepared.
In 1967, my mother - then Francie Weinman - graduated from Northwestern University with a degree from the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. But because she is a woman, the only television news job she could get in her hometown of Chicago was as a secretary at a network affiliate.
When I was first assigned to cover the Republican presidential race in 2007, that meant covering John McCain. He was the next in line, and at that point that mattered in the GOP.
When you are being anti-lie or pro-truth, you come across as being anti-Trump or pro-Democrat, and it's a very tough thing for those of us who are just working journalists and still believe in the notion of objectivity.
To have or not to have kids, when to have them, and whether we working women can 'have it all' has been debated, discussed, and examined since the washing machine and the TV dinner began to free up many mothers to even consider leaving the home as a viable option.
