The Editorial Standards of the Daily Planet Have Gone to Pot

I watched the season premiere of SMALLVILLE last night on the DVR. This season of the longest-running live-action TV series to adapt a comics superhero finally -- finally! -- takes Clark Kent (no longer a Superboy -- he's now in his mid-20's, at least) out of the eponymous small town and into the Metropolis office of the Daily Planet.

(Small spoiler warning):

Now, after decades of reading comics, I can suspend my disbelief enough to accept a Martian Manhunter flying the dying Kent into outer space so that the yell0w-sun radiation infusion will heal Kent's wounds and restore his powers. I can even overlook the omission of how the MM got Clark back to Earth, since MM states that the experience wiped out his powers.

But what I can't accept is that a Major Metropolitan Newspaper would hire Kent -- a college dropout whose sole journalistic experience is writing for his high school newspaper, and who has never shown any talent at reading a newspaper, let alone writing for one -- as a full-fledged reporter right out of the box.

I suspect the 1,100 folks that the L.A. Times laid off have a bit more qualification for the job.