It's beyond a joke, it really is.

In fact, it's worse than that: it's embarrassing.

I'm talking about how the personal finance sections of the national media are a scratched record, quoting the same old IFAs day in, day out.

I don't need to name the rent-a-gobs in question, as you'll know who they are.

Why the scratched record?

So why do our national journalists incessantly quote just a handful of IFA firms?

This is a rhetorical question, of course, as I know the answer.

It's a mixture of a number of things:

Now what I'm
saying is that the inner circle, the privileged elite of IFA firms being quoted, don't know what they are on about.

They do and some of these rent-a-gobs have achieved that status for a reason, i.e. they genuinely know their stuff and churn out decent content.

But what grates is that there are thousands of other experts out there who know their stuff, too, but who don't get a look-in.

(Saying that, I had a bit of a spat with one national newspaper journalist a while back after she said that few IFAs can talk with any authority on pensions.So maybe you don't know what you're on about, after all, you schmucks?).

Call Terry in Newport

Now when I was a journalist, I was guilty of being lazy, too.

It's hard not to call a rent-a-gob when you know they'll give you a measured soundbite that will make it easier to meet your deadline.

But when I did have a bit of spare time, I used to enjoy calling up a firm I had never spoken to before and chatting to the MD out of the blue about such and such a fund, or getting his/her views on reversionary bonuses (remember them?).

They loved it, I found a new voice, my editor was happy and everyone was a winner.

So if I could do this before the internet was even in full swing, why do this lot today seem incapable of googling some new pensions or investment experts?

Why can't they call Terry in Newport and get his views? Or Sharon in Dundee?

Please, please call anyone but NOT him from THERE again!

Why pay for same old, same old?

This problem isn't new, of course.

I know a few senior newspaper journalists who are aware that this is an issue, and want to change it, but it carries on regardless.The record is seriously scratched.

No wonder the national newspapers are losing readers by the day. People are beginning to suss them out.

In the digital age, with the proliferation of content and knowledge, and the sheer diversity of voice, why pay for same old, same old?