Gene Policinski: Why licensing journalists is a bad idea

  Licensing journalists is an idea that surfaces from time to time. But it’s always a bad idea.

  Such proposals may originate from grudges held by lawmakers, or a political strategy to typecast journalists as biased and out of touch, or the occasional well-meaning soul who equates journalists with lawyers or doctors.

  The latest effort arose in Michigan, where a state legislator proposed a state board through which journalists would voluntarily register — at $10 per license — and that would certify them as having “good moral character” and a basic level of training and experience.