Is there any profession more self-absorbed and less self-critical than journalists? Yes, the Hollywood entertainment industry qualifies but other than that I don’t think so.

What brings this to mind is the Richard Morin column in today’s Washington Post (great hede: “What’s Black and White and Red All Over”) citing researchers at Cambridge and the University of Zurich who have determined that “newspaper coverage of terrorist incidents leads directly to more attacks.”

According to the study: "Both the media and terrorists benefit from terrorist incidents." Morin explains: “Terrorists get free publicity for themselves and their cause. The media, meanwhile, make money ‘as reports of terror attacks increase newspaper sales and the number of television viewers.’"

Or to put it another way: “Coverage caused more attacks, and attacks caused more coverage — a mutually beneficial spiral of death that they say has increased because of a heightened interest in terrorism since Sept. 11, 2001.”

You would think this would prompt editors and producers to think hard about how they cover terrorism. I’ll bet you a good single malt Scotch that doesn’t happen.