Harry Shearer's Riff On Defining Journalists

Harry Shearer, who's already had an honorable mention here, uses his Huffington Post blog for a riff on the definition of a journalist. He suggests reading it in your best Casey Kasem voice -- whatever you do, read the whole thing. Some of it rings true; we might wish some of it didn't. It's a tad long but that tends to be the case with riffs.  Just a taste:

Journalists like:

deadlines.
bylines.
a bigger news hole.
free food.

Journalists don’t like:
deadlines.
editors.
cramped press facilities at major news events.
media whores.

Journalists can be Anchors, but never Sales. They can be reporters, or just repeaters. A journalist looks down on celebrities until the day he becomes one.

A journalist spends too much time covering a story that gets too little space so it can be skimmed by a reader who has too little time.