In comments to the post below, I get a bit snippy with a writer who casually tosses off the usual slur about liberal journalists. Sorry, but he picked the wrong day to push that particular button. I had just been wading through a lengthy analysis at Instapundit (scroll down to the April 25 entries) that makes, or at least presents, some of the same arguments. What Instapundit says is pretty standard blogosphere fodder, but it's more annoying coming from him because he is a genuinely smart guy and a star of the blogging world. For my favorite response, go to an actual newsman.

I have written on this topic here and here, among other places, and I won't waste time repeating those arguments. But I do want to comment further on an Instapundit response that says low pay in journalism means that journalists are out of touch with their readers.

There is much to be said for this. A college graduate's first job in journalism pays less than any other degree out there. Reporters who are good at their work can eventually do much better, but many quit before that happens. News outlets rarely do much recruiting at the college level, underpay interns and make no effort to sign rising stars to see if they develop. This has consequences in local news coverage (although any knowledgeable person could come up with long lists of exceptions to the points I am about to make):

1. Beginning reporters rarely own homes so property taxes don't mean much to them. They don't have kids in school, so they don't care about the school board. SIDs, zoning issues, paved streets -- all the usual give and take of local politics -- don't have much relevance to their lives.
2. They don't get out much because they can't afford to get around. At the first newspaper where I worked, we hired so many newly minted college grads trying to coax a few thousand more miles out of their decrepit vehicles that we had a running joke we wanted to insert into employment ads: "Opening for general assignment reporter. Reliable transportation a must. Journalism skills preferred."
3. Young reporters know they will have to move up in the journalism world to make a decent living, so they feel no particular ties to the community in which they live. This is especially true in television.
4. They often work nights and weekends, so they aren't out and about when most people are. Instead, they tend to hang out with each other and bitch about their jobs.
5. The reality of low pay narrows the field of prospective journalism candidates. I think that's one reason so few conservatives go into the field. Money matters to them. Journalism attracts people who are motivated in other ways. Not many in the frat crowd wind up in journalism.
6. As a general sort of principle, the working poor probably are more likely to look on government spending as a way to help keep themselves afloat. They won't generally complain about welfare, public transportation, free clinics and publicly maintained parks and museums. If taxes go up, that's OK by them.
7. Although beginning journalists don't make much money, their bosses do. Newspaper analyst John Morton has called daily newspapers the most profitable legal business in America. Do well educated poor people who work for rich people ever resent that? Is that resentment reflected in their general attitude toward big business and corporate America? Did Butte miners back the union?
8. Because of the monk-like ethical expectations of their job, journalists don't get involved in politics, join activist groups or try in any of the usual ways to effect social change. Typically, they don't even join service clubs.
9. Because of their skeptical nature, journalists don't much go to church. Again, lots of exceptions here, but I think it's generally true.
10. Because so many readers casually dismiss journalists as inherently unethical, corrupt, politically biased and incompetent, journalists learn not to pay much attention to what people say about them. When a well-meaning critic says something that's genuinely constructive, it often gets lost in the cacophony.
11. For all that, most journalists remain convinced that they are doing socially important work with lasting value for freedom and democracy. Increasingly, they seem to be about the only people who still believe that.