The continuing problem with the media

[Clark2008]

I've seen a few people on this board and others refer to television pundits as "journalists" in regards to their ethical standards of reporting fairly and without bias.
However, part of the problem with today's media is that many - if not most - of the pundits today are NOT journalists and have no ethical training in the field.
CNN fields the most journalists-as-pundits, followed by MSNBC and, finally, of course, Faux (having NO pundit with a reporting background, per se).
Here is the run-down on the people providing Americans with news on cable:

CNN

Lou Dobbs - Graduated from Harvard with a degree in economics, but has worked in the news media for more than 30 years, as an economic pundit.

Paula Zahn - Graduated from Stephens College in Missouri with a degree in journalism. Worked for a variety of television news organizations before becoming a CNN talk show host.

Aaron Brown - Graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in journalism. Worked for a variety of television news organizations before becoming a CNN talk show host. Most famous for breaking news coverage of 9/11.

Larry King - no information on college education, but has worked as a talk show host for more than 40 years.

MSNBC

Chris Matthews - Graduated from Holy Cross College (no degree mentioned), but spent 13 of 15 years as the Washington Bureau Chief for the San Francisco Examiner before continuing on into politics as one of President Carter's press liaisons.

Keith Olbermann - Graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Communications (journalism). Worked for a variety of radio and television stations and networks, including (and most famously) as the co-anchor of ESPN's "SportsCenter."

Dan Abrams - Graduated from Duke University in political science and Columbia with a law degree. Spent a few years as reporter for Court TV before becoming a general assignment reporter for NBC in 1997.

Joe Scarborough - Law degree from University of Florida; Republican congressional member until Sept. 6, 2001.

Fox

Bill O'Reilly - Marist College with a degree in history, worked primarily as a teacher before getting own radio talk show.

Sean Hannity - House painter before getting own radio talk show.

Greta van Susteren - Georgetown University Law School. Because a legal consultant in 1991. Was made famous by the O.J. Simpson trial.

And, for good measure:

Rush Limbaugh - Dropped out of Southeastern Missouri State. Graduated from the Elkins Institute of Radio and Technology in Dallas (disk jockey).

So, there you have it.
While there are some impressive degrees floating around in this group (and many of the pundits do keep topics aimed at their backgrounds), many do not have degrees in journalism or haven't worked in the field for most of their lives and don't know the first thing about being "fair and balanced."
Also note that pundits aren't even CHARGED with being fair and balanced, but it would help, particularly in the case of Fox News, if they had some experience in news (and not just talk shows) before being given a chance to mouth off in public.
Most young journalists start off in this field with an average national salary of less than $25,000 a year and rarely make more than $40,000 (as an editor).
The problem with journalism, like teaching, is that the talented people leave for public relations or other fields because the money and hours are horrible.