Beginning with a reflection on various critical reviews of L’Éducation sentimentale published in the Second Empire press, the present articles considers the representation of journalism in Flaubert’s novel of amorous and political disenchantment, exploring the ways in which the text desconstructs a number of tropes and narrative structures associated with the Bildungsroman. The vision of journalism at stake in Flaubert’s novel, I argue, draws attention to points of continuity and difference between Flaubert and Balzac, highlighting the idea that L’Éducation sentimentale represents a fiction of inertia and idleness.