Published October 27, 2025

Question snobs bore me. They just do.

Someone will ask a question at a conference where Q&A is the main event, and others out in the audience will snicker and whisper to each other about what a ridiculous question it was.

It’s true, though, that sometimes a person seems to really be asking to be mocked — or remembered for all the wrong reasons.

(I know it wasn’t me, but I’ve asked embarrassingly bad questions at these things. I moved tf on.)

Why are you asking?

It does seem that some sports writers ask questions designed to show off their knowledge to the coach or player. This is true in every type of journalism, I’m sure.

Mostly, I’ve got better ways to spend my time than to pick apart the question someone else asked. Some of the most interesting answers I’ve ever heard were in response to what other writers mocked as a bad question.

The purpose of a question is almost always simply to elicit an answer, and nothing more.

Period.

If you’re teaching reporters the art of asking questions, sure, analyze them. But don’t forget to listen to the answers. The answers are all that matter.

Readers don’t want to know about the labor pains. They just want to see the baby.

If your role as editor goes beyond line editing, this is a topic you might weigh in on.

Oh, and one more thing: I wrote this and the headline before the heist at the Louvre. The original headline was: The purpose of a question is to elicit an answer, not to be art worthy of the Louvre. I changed it because I thought it would be distracting.

Would you have left it?

Sending love. Protect your peace.

♥

Thank you

If you appreciate what you find here and feel generous, you can check out the Tip Jar. Thank you for reading. Here’s a butterfly for you.

/”””””\  \  /  /”””””\
\   0   \(  )/   0   /
>       l l       <
/    o   l l   o    \
\,,,,,,,,,/v\,,,,,,,,,/

Photo © Kasto80 | Megapixl.com