Despite disparate backgrounds, journalists have a lot in common. And that can be a problem. People who work in newsrooms are immersed in the weird of the world, covering and obsessing about what’s going wrong. The stereotypical journalist isn’t an idealist. We’re skeptics – or, “jaded” reporters and editors – tracking things down often to the point of minor obsession.

Anyway, I say all this to say that newsroom people are odd. Although we use our commonalities with the world we cover to understand it, we also must be aware of how different we are from the rest of society.

For example, the economic hardship facing the newspaper industry does not necessarily stretch outside our world. As reporters and editors are downsized, that doesn’t mean the whole country is in a recession.

Duh, right?

Here are some more practical differences from pollster John Zogby, whose recent comments at the We Media conference in Miami were summarized by Jemima Kiss.

Zogby reports that 76 percent of journalists said they are satisfied with the news, but just 27 percent of the public agreed. Such a huge difference illustrates a disconnect between what we’re providing and what the market wants.

How do people want to receive their news? Answers depend greatly on whether you work in the industry. Zogby reports that 26 percent of the media and 12 percent of the public read newspapers; 5 percent of the media and 32 percent of the public get news from TV; 60 percent of the media and 40 percent of the public get news online.

Here's a bit of a bright side from Zogby for those of us who blog about the media. Looks like we picked a good target audience: Although more than half the public said blogs are important, compare that with a whopping 86 percent of the media.

The point is that coverage and business decisions must reflect everyday people and should be based in research. Too often journalism leaders base decisions solely on their habits, as if they’re one-man microcosms of the entire world.