The following will seem to contradict the item below it.

It does not. (That's the late, great Burt Lancaster and the still-breathing Tony Curtis in The Sweet Smell of Success, courtesy New Yorker music critic Alex Ross.)

The secret to success in every field is found in the skills of the journalist.

Whatever you wish to be -- a scientist, an artist, an entrepreneur, a preacher, an economist, a politician -- you will go further if you have a journalist's basic tool set.

Research thoroughly. Ask good questions. Listen carefully. Write clearly. Explain simply.

These are the skills of journalism. You can pick them up in a few college courses. Some are even taught in journalism schools. Most are learned in the School of Hard Knocks.

The rest of what passes for journalism education is bunk. So learn rhetoric, learn public speaking, learn writing, read as widely as you can. That's what newspapers and TV stations are looking for. They know they can teach the rest of the skill set on-the-fly. Most journalists never went to j-school.

How do I know this is true?

The leading scientists are those who can explain what they're doing simply, coherently, and completely.

The best politicians break down what they're saying into simple words. So do the best preachers. So do the best businesspeople.

Practically everyone you see on TV has these basic skills and there are two kinds of people in this world -- those on TV and those not on TV.

So learn to be a journalist. Then, be something else.

You've got to be nuts to do this job.