"Experts"

Read this candid and modest post by Peter Levine on "'Expert' voices." Peter certainly counts as an "expert" on many things and ought to be consulted by serious reporters on a diverse number of issues. Here he discusses, with bemusement, an interview on the Katrina aftermath with Yahoo News (and Agence France Presse) in which he is portrayed as a "media expert." Peter says, sure, "I read the New York Times," and points out the extent to which news media often seek out "experts" simply to confer authority upon what they've already assumed and are already going to write. They simply need the "authority" to do so.