Reduced to its basics there is nothing hard about journalism. You find people to talk to about interesting things and in some way or other record what they say. All you have to do then is put it in context and blog it, broadcast it or print it. Job done.
There's more to it than that, but let's move on. The process, of course, requires a lot of checking, not least to make sure you understand things correctly. Invariably, you will come back with more queries and follow-up questions to explore an issue more fully. A conversation is crucial.
For obvious reasons, a genuine two-way discussion is impossible with Stephen Hawking, who kindly agreed last week to answer some questions for the Guardian. He put a lot of hours into formulating and typing out the answers, over a few days when he was also writing a talk for the Google Zeitgeist meeting that begins in London today.
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