Of Empty Suits And Teleprompters...

Perhaps one of the most annoying aspects of the political blogosphere is the excessive regard shown to the "profession" of journalism. Most of this is, of course, because a large number of political bloggers are wannabe journalists (or, more often, wannabe pundits).

Personally, I can't stand journalists. I've had run-ins with more than one of them over the years, and of the lot of them I've met exactly two that weren't completely dead from the neck up. The rest were lazy, stupid and uninformed. They became journalists because one day they woke up during their junior year of college and realized that as a pre-Law student with a GPA of 2.25, perhaps the School of Journalism was the way to go.

Beyond that, it should be noted that journalism isn't a profession. It's a vocation. Journalism has no licensing mechanism, there is no educational requirement, nor is there any sort of experience requirement. It's harder to become a plumber than a news reporter. And that's why you end up with psychos like Jayson Blair at the New York Times: He had no degree, no meaningful experience, no nothing. He was a journalist because some moron at the Times decided to hire him.

Given this state of affairs, it shouldn't be any surprise that some of CNN's more prominent journalistic empty suits have managed to make horse's patoots out of themselves on Celebrity Jeopardy. It's a tribute to CNN's cluelessness that they would even let someone with the intellectual horsepower of Wolf Blitzer anywhere near a quiz show. Have they never actually listened to Wolf, or what?

Of course, CNN can't just go out and admit they have a stable of morons in the newsroom, so now they're in full damage control mode -  as only CNN can do it:

A CNN insider defended the journalists: "They are reporters, not trivia experts. And the buzzer is complicated. It's not activated until Alex [Trebek] finishes the last syllable of the question. If you hit the button too soon, nothing happens."

That's right... The buzzer is complicated. Too complicated for Wolf. And Soledad.

You can't make this stuff up.

Comments

[JeffS]

You can't make this stuff up.

I wish it were made up. Alas, it's not.

[Steve H. Graham]

I always remember the journalist who referred to the former-USSR hard-liners as "right wingers."

You're right. Journalism is not a profession. And very few journalists are bright. What's the major everyone in college makes fun of? Communications. That's where journalists come from.

[Allen]

You know you're reaching deep into the excuse bag when your response is: they were stumped by the buzzer.

Maybe ringing a doorbell is an intellectual challenge for these folks.

[ThomasD]

The saying 'those that can do, and those that can't teach' still presumes a basic knowledge of the subject matter.

Journalism as practiced today is all about the doing with absolutely no regard for the knowing.

[David]

The professions are: engineering, accounting, medicine and law.

Oh, and whoring.

[Norman Rogers]

Didn't that Andy Richter fellow clean the floor with them?

I remember watching Richter on the old version of Conan O'Brien, and he is extremely smart and extremely quick. He's big and buttery, like most of the good sidekicks were, but he's able to come up with answers. Funnymen tend to ad-lib and go ad hoc faster than a script-reading barbie doll.

[Tim Worstall]

"Beyond that, it should be noted that journalism isn't a profession. It's a vocation."

Not quite. It's a trade. Which is why gentlemen should never commit it.