Commentary, Political

Political commentary is a journalistic genre in press, radio, television, and Internet where journalists analyze or discuss current events. Political commentary often appears in news contexts but is also frequently in opinion sections in newspapers and in special programs or shows in broadcast media. Notably, it has become more common to see political commentaries by non-journalists, such as lobbyists and former politicians.

Political commentary has been an important aspect of political journalism in most democratic countries. Besides the informative role of providing political news and mirroring alternative political positions, the argumentative role of journalists to comment or analyze political developments has been widely acknowledged as a basic professional function and a necessary complement to objective reporting. Comparative studies of journalist perceptions of political commentary show that a majority in most countries considers the analytical function of the media to be important or very important.

The political commentary has similarities to both news and views pieces in the media; like editorials and debate articles it expresses opinions, and like news articles it focuses on current events. However, the distinctive feature of the political commentary is its free role of commenting and expressing opinions about what is going on in society, without a declared political party affiliation or an ideologically consistent perspective in the long run. Political commentators do evaluate parties or candidates but not with the intention of changing public opinion in a certain political direction.

Historically, the strengths of such commentary-oriented journalism have varied in different parts of [Page 118]the world. Media systems in continental Europe, and especially in the Mediterranean area, have been characterized by political parallelism, with strong advocacy journalism, a more active journalistic role, and a party press system reflecting the institutional ties between media and politics. In liberal media systems, such as the United States and Britain, political commentary was initially more controversial with regard to existing professional and neutral journalistic values. However, political commentary soon developed as a natural part of more market-oriented media systems.

Today, political commentary appears frequently in most media systems around the world, and it is a distinct feature of contemporary political communication. The global rise of the commentary function of the media has different explanations. In times of declining political trust in the most advanced democracies, the neutral reporting position has come under pressure and encouraged a more active and critical journalistic role. Furthermore, structural media changes, such as increased competition, commercialization and production demands, have facilitated the transformation of journalists and journalistic formats toward a more interpretative and speculative direction.

Gradually, television has developed as the most important arena for the political commentary in modern democracies. Commentaries appear in both ordinary daily newscasts and in special weekly television shows focusing on current affairs. One form of television journalism with its roots in political commentary is the so-called punditocracy, a term first developed by the American columnist Eric Alterman, who describes a special group of political commentators in television offering inside political opinions and forecasts in the elite national media. The concept of “political pundit” has become central when explaining the rapid development of political commentary as somewhat of an opinion industry in media societies.

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