A Stitch in Haste

Question: What's the only thing more pathetic than an occupational journalist (journalism is not a true profession, therefore there is no such thing as a "professional journalist") who calls for licensing of bloggers?

Answer: An occupational journalist who calls for mandatory licensing of bloggers, is a mere copycat and, arguably, a near-plagiarist:

Advocates argue that the acts of collecting and distributing makes these people "journalists." This is like saying someone who carries a scalpel is a "citizen surgeon" or someone who can read a law book is a "citizen lawyer."

It took me a while, but I knew I had seen the insolent gobbledygook term "citizen surgeon" somewhere before:

Bloggers are called "citizen journalists"; alternatives to Western medicine are increasingly popular, though we can thank our stars there is no discernible "citizen surgeon" movement[.]

The hubris of these insecure scriveners almost rivals that of politicians. As if composing the police blotter were equivalent to inserting an IV, or as if asking Dana Perino a question were akin to performing an emergency appendectomy.

My response then is my response now:

It is precisely the fact that occupational journalists are not "professionals" on the same plane with physicians (or nurses, attorneys, veterinarians, accountants or even optometrists) that is finally being exposed by blogging.

Occupational journalists face no mandatory educational curricula. They face no licensing examinations, no continuing education requirements, and need not subscribe to any legally binding code of ethics.

The very fact that occupational journalists often cannot see the difference between a journalist and a surgeon is why they are increasingly being ignored. They are not credentialed -- and it drives them batty that laypersons no longer see any need afford them the respect that they afford the true (i.e., credentialed) professions.

The ironic part of this whole "decline and fall of MSM" debate continues to be the pesky fact that most bloggers, myself included, freely admit that we are not news gatherers and do not strive to be news gatherers. We are commentators. I have no desire to be the next Brian Williams -- only the next George Will.

The point is that commentators -- and their readers -- often want raw news, without analysis or redaction. I love traditional news -- but only the kind that comes from the AP, Reuters or Dow Jones: objective, succinct and essentially anonymous. It's the faux "professionalism" of the high-profile occupational journalists -- the same ones who throw the tantrums -- that I find vestigial and in some cases counterproductive. Which, of course, is precisely why they throw the tantrums in the first place.

(Via Publius Endures. More thoughts at Hot Air, Gun Toting Liberal, BNN, Publius' Forum, Thousand Papercuts, Strata-Sphere, etc.)

Technorati Tag: David Hazinski