Definition of rock journalism: People who can't write, doing interviews with people who can't think, in order to prepare articles for people who can't read.

Zappa’s quip is a deliberately caustic “definition” that satirizes the entire ecosystem of rock-media culture: the journalist, the musician-as-interviewee, and the readership. By stacking three insults—can’t write, can’t think, can’t read—he portrays rock journalism as a closed loop of lowered standards in which no participant is incentivized to be precise, reflective, or literate. The joke also reflects Zappa’s long-standing antagonism toward music-industry gatekeepers and the way interviews can flatten complex artistic intentions into marketable sound bites. Its enduring appeal lies in its aphoristic structure and its broader applicability to other forms of shallow cultural commentary.

“Rock journalism is people who can’t write interviewing people who can’t talk for people who can’t read.”
“Rock journalism: people who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t talk, for people who can’t read.”