On the difference between journalists and writers

Ever since the film The Perfect Storm came out some years ago, it has become a common journalistic convention to use the metaphor of a perfect storm whenever anything happens for which some contingent coming together of conditions was necessary. In this example, the writer seeks to explain the recent popularity of political documentaries. He writes,

Some say the current spate of political culture stems from nothing more complicated than the fact that a highly polarized United States is heading toward another hotly contested election. If so, or if other considerations intervene, it may not last.

So the perfect storm in this example is a consumer trend, brought about by the reaction of the electorate to the current political climate.

But this metaphor has exploded in the last month. Our journalists could not resist the obvious opportunity to employ their wit provided by the recent actual really big storm. So, for example, in this L.A. Times story, we have

But it appeared the hurricanes may have provided the perfect political storm for industry-backed initiatives that didn't make it into the big energy bill approved earlier this year.

I think it is the overuse (one time was too much) of this metaphor that is single-handedly responsible for turning me off to reading further coverage of the political aftermath of the hurricane.