- You´ve been seen lately reporting live with tanks shooting in the
background. What does the process of decision making for those positions
look like, weighing journalistic accuracy and the thought "That looks
great on TV"?

The great thing about television is the visual element, nothing comes close, so there’s always a motivation to make every story as visually compelling as possible. But recently during the Israel/Hezbollah war we had a few occassions when katusha rockets landed too close to our live shot position. In those cases, there was no real decision making process - we packed up and left, it was quite simple. I was not interested in chasing rockets and seeing how close we could come to death on live television. Some reporters are, I’m not, and neither are the people I work with.

- After ABCNews´ Bob Woodruff and CBSNews´ Kimberly Dozier and their
crews being wounded on assignment, how does that effect your own
preparation for deployments as war correspondent?

What happened to Bob and Kimberly could happen to any of us. It just is a reminder to be aware of where we are and what we do. It doesn't effect my preparation, what it does do, is make me assess every single job I do in baghdad, and is it really worth it. In june I went to Zarqawi's house after it was bombed - that was worth it. But taking a risk to get a better stand up, especially after what happened to Bob and Kimberly, not worth it.

- How do you feel when you are on the frontlines with the Israeli army?

The Israeli army is very different to the U.S. military. It's a citizen army, so it's a lot more relaxed, sometimes more willing to allow you more access than other military forces. Which can be good and bad.

- In the age of the Internet, it seems more and more journalists become
subject to some kind of stardom, who are not in such a "god-like"
position of network anchors like Walter Cronkite, the late Peter
Jennings or Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather etc. Now, reporters and
correspondents get more public attention, too - being closely monitored
by Media blogs or forums. What do you think about this development?

It's good and bad. For me personally, I think it makes you more accountable for everything you report, and also to ensure that you have covered all the angles and asked all the questions. The down side, is sometimes the bloggers can be a bit intimidating, especially the first time they get hold of one of your stories. You just have to ensure that you can stand by your work no matter what the scrutiny. As for the personal attention of the internet, I don't really have that - ask Anderson.

- Why are you in Israel? Was it your wish to be a reporter there? What
other countries would you like to cover as a reporter?

I moved to jerusalem because three years ago CNN asked me to cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other stories in the region full time. It is one of the most nuanced stories in the world and most reporters leave this part of the workld a little better at their craft. If the career geenie granted me one wish - I would wish for a job covering the U.S. state department. Right now, U.S. foreign policy and it's implications are probably one of the top three most important reporting jobs.

- Please describe a normal day at work.

It depends on the situation. During the Israel-Hezbollah war there was no normal. Days merged into weeks, quite often the crew and I would ask each other "what day is this?" and often no one knew. Outside of these times, my day usually starts at 5am, when I read every newspaper I can find online, into work by 9am, call around, see what's out there, start working on the news of the day, or a feature piece, and if breaking news happens wait for the live shot requests to come in.

- Was there any terrorist attack in Israel that you can't forget? If so
why.


The passover attack at the park hotel in Netanya which left 30 people dead in 2002. It was the first time I had walked through the blood and body bits left behind after an attack. Tables were still set, but plates hade been shattered, strollers were overturned, food was still on the hotel stove . .. and on the floor blood had mixed with the water from the fire sprinkler system. And somehow we were the only ones there for many many hours, and we broadcast live from inside the hotel, amid all the destruction. I also think that was a turning point in the Israli-Palestinian conflict; after the attack operation defensive shield began, and really the peace process was left on life support.

- Anderson Cooper came to Israel to host his show - what about John
Vause as an anchor? (You did it in Atlanta - how did you like it?)

I liked anchoring a lot, but felt I could do better. Some years ago I was offered a choice of anchoring or reporting. I took reporting because I think in the long run it will make me a better anchor. In my view, the best anchors on our network have been good strong reporters - Jim clancy, Michael Holmes, Wolf Blitzer, John King, John Roberts, Fionnula Sweeny - just to name a few . . . I would hope in the next few years, when I am ready to give up the road, there will be an anchoring job for me somewhere.

- Which CNN network is your personal favorite and why?

Well this is a loaded question! Right now I would have to say CNN International, because quite simply it is the one I get to see. All the networks have a different focus, because their goals and audiences are different, but CNNI by its very nature, has much more time for stories from my part of the world.