How Dumb Are Reporters? [Updated]

February 10, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff

Years ago, I had a lot of fun with the New York Times Corrections section, which documented the fact, day after day, that the paper’s reporters and editors had little knowledge of mathematics, science, literature or history. The gaffes that appeared in the Times were stunning to anyone with a halfway-decent education.

I have been off that beat for a while, but our reporters’ educational deficiencies continue to amaze. Thus we have NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, who tried to one-up Ted Cruz. Bad decision. Cruz described the Democrats’ farcical impeachment proceeding as “like Shakespeare, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Mitchell sought to correct Cruz:

Andrea Mitchell @mitchellreports. @SenTedCruz says #ImpeachmentTrial is like Shakespeare full of sound and fury signifying nothing. No, that’s Faulkner 6:46 PM · Feb 10, 2021

 

Heh. Cruz and many others explained that Faulkner got the line from Shakespeare, a writer of whom Mitchell apparently is unaware. Mitchell tried to retire from the field with her ego intact: 

• Andrea Mitchell@mitchellreport I clearly studied too much American literature and not enough Macbeth. My apologies to Sen. Cruz.

Here’s the thing, though. No one who studied Faulkner even superficially could fail to understand that the title of The Sound and the Fury was a Shakespearean reference. This was explained in every freshman English class where Faulkner’s book has been taught..........In short, by trying to match wits with Ted Cruz, Andrea Mitchell revealed herself as a person who knows little or nothing about either Shakespeare or Faulkner. That isn’t necessarily disgraceful, except that 

1. ) she shouldn’t have picked a fight with a very smart guy from a position of ignorance, and  
2. ) her fallback position, claiming to be a Faulkner scholar, made her look dumber than ever. Deservedly.

This is all trivial, except for one fact: the politicians, reporters, writers, editors, “intellectuals,” college professors and so on who try to intimidate you with their claim to be smarter and more knowledgeable than you, are, with only occasional exceptions, frauds.............To Read More.....

My Take - It was over 25 years ago I started writing articles dealing with the green movement and their junk science in defense of the pest control industry, and since I'm an autodidact with no formal training in writing and no formal education in science, or in anything else I write about for that matter, so it was a bit intimidating.   

 

But, I'm Serbian, and as a President of our national association commented, "you thrive on confrontation".   It's our cup of tea.  So, it wasn't long before I realized a large number of these formally educated people weren't necessarily the brightest pebbles in the brook, and so many times they were relying on their credentials to get away with a lot of crap.  

 

Worse yet, they had a serious problem with vertebrae.   They didn't have any.   And worse than that; they unfailingly seemed to lack a broad understanding of a great many things, especially involving history and logic, and it seems the media is no different, and it's long overdue for these media sewer trout to be called out for their perfidy.