I did not realize just how insular.

For decades, I have been struck by the tendency of journalists to interview one another as supposed experts.

Back when print media dominated, it wasn't near so prevalent.  It occurred, but in a more limited fashion.  But TV news and radio news have always been prone to keep the news "all in the family" as it were.  

Yesterday, I had two twenty minute drives and had on NPR on both occasions.  In the first segment, about halfway through, I suddenly realized that though they had had several experts in the different reports being interviewed, they were all, except for one, other journalists at other news outlets.  The closest they came to an independent expert was an academic.

Once this triggered, I of course paid close attention for the remaining cumulative 30 minutes of reporting.  It remained the same - across the full forty minutes there was one academic interviewed, and a couple of politicians, and everyone else was a journalist.  There was no one from the real world or from business.

I knew that news media had grown insular but I am pretty certain I did not realize just how insular.  No wonder the news is so skewed.  They don't know what they don't know and yet all they talk to are other journalists with the same ideological precepts.