Like anyone who gets income from doing anything, they circulate money, which contributes to the economy. And if you work with your hands or are a businessperson you may not credit it, but there is something to be said for the life of the mind, and for having a group of people in any society who create art, whether it is the art of literature or the arts of painting, sculpture, architecture, music, or the higher decorative crafts.
As for journalists: well, we despise them as a breed because we tend to think of all journalists as being people who work for the New York Times. But the many thoughtful writers and bloggers whose work keeps the conservative dream and the concept of America alive are also journalists and are worthy of our respect. One might say that Victor Davis Hanson, Thomas Sowell, David Limbaugh, and the editors of the National Review are journalists. So journalists can be worthy of our respect and do valid work, too.
Not all of us have the health and strength to build roads. Some of us must work with our talents and minds.
I'm not sure circulating money by itself is good for the economy (Keynes may disagree), but anyone who provides a service people want, including artists and journalists, is contributing something to the economy.
My daughter is a journalist for a business journal and I am extremely proud of her and her work. She works for an editor that requires sources and factual reporting. Their paper continues to add subscribes while the two main dailies in the state lose subscribers due to their lax reporting. Shows when you put out a quality product that you can count on the stories being factual, then you won’t have trouble selling that newspaper.
Your comments were very well written and correct IMHO. Too many people are quick to throw everyone in the same pot when it is not true.