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Since 1990, Randall Pinkston has been a correspondent with CBS News, starting at the White House. He has since moved to CBS in New York, and he’s covered both the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This week, he shares some stories about living in a mud hut in Tora Bora (where the food was actually pretty good) and about his experiences before entering television – he almost became a lawyer.

What do you do at CBS News?

My job title is correspondent, which is another word for "reporter." I do news reports for CBS News broadcasts. Ideally, I travel to the locations where the stories are happening, interview individuals who are involved with the event and describe what I see to our viewers. Often, I am unable to travel to the scene, so I rely on video and interviews that are done by our world-wide team of CBS News producers and photographers as well as our affiliates. Compiling newscasts is a very collaborative process. After the executive producer and/or assignment manager decide what story will be done, correspondents work with producers, photojournalists, sound technicians and editors. We also work with a separate team of producers and technicians who take stories produced for television and augment them for presentation on our website. Last but not least, our stories are also edited for presentation on CBS Radio. On breaking news stories, we often file reports exclusively for radio.

What single issue should be covered more at CBS News?

I believe one of the most important foundations of democracy is the electoral process - one that is free, fair and accurate. Since 2000, there have been several instances of major problems in our system, locally and nationally. Before the next crisis, I think news outlets (not just CBS) should devote some time and resources to reviewing the procedures and equipment we use to select our political leaders. Of paramount importance is the notion that citizens who choose to vote should be encouraged, not hindered. And if there is any doubt about the accuracy of a vote count, there should be a reliable way of determining how many votes were cast - in other words, something akin to a paper trail, not a “digital trail” susceptible to tampering.

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Randall Pinkston has been a correspondent with CBS News since 1990, when he was the network’s White House correspondent. He is now based in New York and has covered everything from the Susan Smith trial to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. On the “Evening News” this weekend, he took a look at some of the differences between how Arab and Western media portrays the current crisis in the Middle East. Check it out and send in your questions for Randall, our "10 Plus 1" subject this week.

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On May 24, correspondent Randall Pinkston appeared at New York City's Symphony Space as part of an event co-sponsored by storytelling organization The Moth. The event, called "Extra, Extra: Stories about the News," also featured Former CBS News producer Bernie Birnbaum, musician Moby, and others. In his fifteen minute story, Pinkston described some of his adventures in journalism, including the time he uttered a certain word on live television that…well, you'll just have to watch.

"Last time I did something like this I was in a high school play," says Pinkston. "You have no props, no paper, just you, naked, onstage with the microphone. It was a little intimidating."

Pinkston expected to just stand up and tell a story when he agreed to appear, but it turned out to be much more involved than that. "First, The Moth's artistic director had me tell the story on the phone. We changed the flow. There was a rehearsal where there was more critiquing and suggested changes. It was a highly produced experience. It was akin to doing a news story for CBS News because of high involvement of production values."

That doesn't mean he embellished, however. "The story is 100 percent true," he says.

If you click on the video box you can watch Pinkston's performance, which was co-presented by The Moth and Selected Shorts at Symphony Space (this clip runs just over 16 minutes).

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