If laymen can sometimes glean something significant even in well-established academic disciplines, how much more must there be for us to discover in the roiling, unstructured hubbub of current affairs?

This is, after all, the world we inhabit all day, every day.  We have a lot more basis for observation.

And while the media may have certain strategic assets, including research staffs and access to prominent people, these by no means confer infallibility upon them.