There is a great deal that Donald Trump doesn't know. He "didn't know any of these women" (third presidential debate), he "know[s] nothing about Russia" (second presidential debate) and he - along, he insists, with the rest of America - "know[s] nothing about" the Syrian refugees that the current US administration wants to bring to its shores.
When the libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson asked "what is Aleppo?", it became a joke. But from the window we have into the misery of the daily existence of that city's inhabitants as we sit here, it becomes harder to laugh about the limits of our knowledge. What do we need to know about these people? Are we equipped to learn?
Anyone watching Trump's conduct over the last couple of days could probably draw the conclusion that if we put our faith in leaders, they will take care of the things that are really important, instead of the confected "outrages" and "sideshows" generated by a media operating in its elite cocoon.
Or perhaps - just perhaps - they might conclude that a person who runs for high office has a duty to find out about and address even those questions that might cause a government some discomfort, and admit that leadership is also sometimes about admitting that mistakes have been made and how.
Decades ago we looked into the eyes of a girl from Afghanistan, and perhaps we read the story her image sold to us. But did we come to know who Afghans are and what Afghanistan is? As Aleppo burns and the "Jungle" in Calais is demolished, and Sharbat Gula - now a woman and mother - sits in Pakistani custody, being a journalist has never seemed more overwhelming - or necessary.