Pundits, Punditry

Pundits are individuals who are considered highly knowledgeable or possessing of expertise in a particular topic. Most commonly, the term pundit is attributed to people knowledgeable and interested in politics, current affairs, sociology, and other social sciences, but the term is also applied to individuals knowledgeable in technology or computer science. The term has become an increasingly common word in popular culture as the cable news channels have risen in power.

Pundit has a somewhat negative connation in recent usage, as it denotes a person who is politically biased but is portraying a knowledgeable, balanced, and neutral image. People who are recognized as pundits often express opinions without necessarily being acknowledged experts in the subject areas in which they opine. Pundits may be more similar to ideological partisans who have an agenda than similar to legitimate experts in a particular subject area who have measured and educated commentary.

Additionally, in part because of the popularity of punditry on cable news channels, there is a perception that punditry may be damaging the credibility and objectivity of journalism. There is concern that news consumers may associate punditry with news reporting and therefore develop a distrust of journalism. Additionally, critics of pundits believe the large amount of news space and news time devoted to punditry (commentary, opinion, and analysis) takes away news space and news time for legitimate news reporting, and it encourages an “infotainment” view of news.

Cable news channels such as CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC often have punditry news and political programs on their lineup. For example, Lou Dobbs on CNN, Bill O'Reilly on Fox News, and Joe Scarborough on MSNBC are all considered pundits. Other media personalities considered pundits are Al Franken, Rush Limbaugh, and Ann Coulter. Sometimes television pundits are referred to as “talking heads.”

Pundits also exist in print news media. For example, newspaper columnists are sometimes considered pundits because they comment on current affairs even though they are not recognized experts in all of the subject areas they discuss in their columns.

The term originates from the Indian term pandit, which refers to someone who is knowledgeable in various subject areas, conducts religious ceremonies, and offers counsel to authorities.