Mark Bernstein makes a great point about journalism:

No individual can make you a physician or a surgeon. No individual can make you a lawyer — or protect you from disbarment once your colleagues have judged you unfit to practice law. But Rupert Murdoch or Fred Hiatt can make you a journalist tomorrow, by signing a paycheck. Paycheck in hand, you remain a journalist. You may win or lose the respect of your colleagues; you’ll still be a journalist.

I think that's what irritates me so much about the affectations so many journalists have: they don't have special skills, and they typically don't know that much about the things they report on. If they approached their task with those things in mind, I think we would all be better served...