The greatest thing about being a journalist is being able to ask funny questions without being stared at. Call it nosiness, call it curiosity. Being interested -- compelled even -- to ask questions is the first priority of being a journalist. A great questioner myself, it was only natural I'd be drawn to the job.

Of course, the more you learn, the more you learn the right questions to ask, but asking questions isn't all that the job takes. Leaving aside the technical aspects -- AP style, or interview ethics, for example -- there's something deeper, something that goes to the heart of journalism.

That trait is the ability to recognize a story. Like asking questions, a journalist must be aware of the stories around them, even the ones that the public passes each day on the sidewalk, in-sight but out-of-mind.  

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