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But the time has come for journalists to acknowledge that a zone of privacy does exist.

There's always a sense that people will do things quite differently if they think they have privacy.

I think as journalists, we have to keep our distance from power.

Everything is accessible to everyone all the time, and I think there are wondrous things to treasure with what the Internet has made available to journalists. But I think it's also had some effects that are less pleasant. It has chipped away at a sense of privacy and secrecy.

It is an odd thing about newspapers that they live by exposure, yet they keep their own worlds concealed.

People have less privacy and are crammed together in cities, but in the wide open spaces they secretly keep tabs on each other a lot more.

I am becoming more recognisable in some ways, and some aspects of my privacy are going. But there's an upside: I have more opportunity to tell bigger stories and connect with more people. And I really relish that responsibility.

Strange bonds of trust and self-deception tend to grow between journalists and their subjects.

A journalist enjoys a privileged position. In exchange for not being able to participate in the rough-and-tumble issues of a community, we are given license to observe it all, based on the understanding that we'll tell everyone what happens fairly and squarely. That's harder than it sounds.

I thought journalism would enable me to be a mile wide and an inch deep.