The big news among those who follow such things: Kathleen Parker, a thoughtful and occasionally illuminating newspaper columnist, has been ousted from CNN’s ill-conceived Parker Spitzer.

We have plenty of backstage gossip and some accusations of sexism, the latter especially pointed because remaining co-host Eliot Spitzer is the guy who left office in a prostitution scandal. (The woman in question also embarked on a journalism career of sorts.)

What now for CNN, which sometimes manages to cling to its old reputation as a fair-minded news-gathering organization with an industry-leading Web presence and international credibility? Will they shun the ratings wars with Fox and MSNBC and stick with actual journalism?

Nope. Spitzer stays, and TVNewser tells us he’ll be joined by such luminaries as E.D. Hill, the former Fox-ite who mused over the possibility that Obama’s fist bump was a terrorist signal.

So if I wanted a TV pundit career, which is far more lucrative than all this work and research, should I say something idiotic or do something idiotic? And can we convince Ted Turner to buy back CNN?