Fortune writer Scott Moritz should “Learn from Stern.” Howard Stern that is. In his article that appeared yesterday entitled Howard Stern May Have A Sirius Dilemma Moritz has a fundamental and serious — no pun intended — problem with the entire premise of his story.

The net/net point Moritz amplifies throughout the article is how if Sirius and XM finally merge that they’ll be running out of cash and Howard Stern will never be able to negotiate anything close to the sweet $700 million, five-year deal he has now that expires in 2010. Earth to terrestrial radio listeners like Moritz…Howard is not coming back. Anyone that listens to the Howard Stern Show knows that he is done with getting up at a ridiculous hour in the morning to do these daily shows. He has more than paid his dues and his fans know that.

With an air of arrogance, Moritz exclaims, “the shock jock may be in for a shock of his own when his deal expires in 2010….Stern could go back to AM-FM radio, but even then it’s unlikely he’d pocket anywhere near his Sirius pay.” Ummmm..I don’t think so fella. Obviously Moritz has never listened to a Howard Stern show. Stern is notorious for jumping on the terrestrial radio pig pile. He despises the outrageous censorship that exists in terrestrial radio world and in a gajillion years would never go back. His audience would lose all respect for him given the rage he has spewed — and rightfully so — at this type of overreaching censorship.

Moritz must have done something right to end up at a well respected magazine like Fortune. But clearly he has done something wrong in researching the facts behind this story. Maybe he should have spoken to a Stern fan — or even better, Howard Stern himself — and asked them what they thought about his story’s premise. He would have learned in a nano-second what all of Stern’s listeners know…Howard is done when his contract is done. The article should have focused on what will happen to the Sirius/XM members like me when Howard leaves. I may bail and I’m sure I’m not alone.

The funny thing is there was a bit of cockiness to Moritz’s tone throughout the article. I wonder who should be more cocky – the guy that made $700 million in five years or the dude who probably won’t make a fraction of that in his lifetime.

Would you consider this sloppy journalism?