Not having a clue about one's subject matter doesn't stop a lot of so-called journalists mouthing off. The one thing that really pisses me off in the news these days is the reliance on opinion rather than factual journalism. It happens on the news too. Rather than actually putting together a package on what's happening in a given situation with reference to research, interviews and, y'know, facts and stuff, they will get some pundit in to tell us all what they think. I don't care what they think. I want to know the facts not what half-baked spin they want to put on the matter.

I think it's probably a product of the age of instant news in which we live that demands we have instant reaction rather than thoughtful, well constructed reports. The general public doesn't seem to have the patience for it any more, so news organisations instead pull in people to tell us what they think [and sometimes by implication what we should think] instead of presenting the issues and letting us decide.

I'm not naive enough to think that there was ever a time where news journalism was completely unbiased, but it's very hard to form one's own opinion if all you have to base yours on is the opinion of others.