In case you didn’t catch it, the writers of WaPo’s The Fix want you to know that they’re super savvy about the political process and they know better than you.
Now, I am prepared to accept this kind of thinking on some level. For instance, most of us would agree that a meteorologist knows more about the weather than we do. They have tools that we don’t have and they have a specialized degree which required them to learn all sorts of things about clouds and wind and moisture and currents. Thus if a meteorologist says hey, I’m pretty sure it’s going to rain today, we’re inclined to listen and take them seriously. But when political reporters say, trust us, we understand all this stuff better than you and here’s what’s happening… should you take them seriously?
She goes on to talk about how most people probably have the skills of political reporters, ie the ability to collect, analyze and disseminate information. Which is true. Mystifying journalism does no one, least of all journalists, any favors. But the meteorologist analogy is apt for another reason besides the skill-set comparison: You have to be right in your predictions.
Generally, I think the TV weather gits make too much money for what they do, but if they’re wrong all the time, eventually one would hope they’d be fired. If they tell the whole city everything’s gonna be fine for the game this weekend and then there’s a once-in-a-lifetime storm, people are going to be angry. Not listen to them anymore. Maybe they won’t be invited to parties where … decent meteorologists hang out? I dunno, but the equivalent anyway.
Yet the TV political gits are wrong all the time, and there are no consequences whatsoever.
A.