In a world where every person is free to share their opinion directly to a mass audience, *we need trusted experts in various fields more than ever.
No, they’re not necessarily going to be concentrated only in traditional media, but if I’m looking something up real quick, I’m more likely to trust some random author on a real news site than some random author on social media. Maybe I’d still get wrong information sometimes, but the odds are better.
I’ll be honest when I read the question I was like “did we ever need them” but reading the comments it all makes sense. I think part of the reason I didn’t see the point is so many pundits I see online just seem to be casual googlers who think reading a bit makes them an expert on the field. You put some random guy who talks with confidence in front of a camera and they can actually build an audience despite being crocked full of sh*t. 100% agree we need actual veteran experts in fields to share objective truth to audiences who’ve inundated with blatant lies.
Part of it is that the question is phrased to make you react that way. By using “pundits” as opposed to “commentators” or “analysts”, it primes you to think about someone at Fox (or, these days, Youtube) pounding on a table while screaming about immigrants, as opposed to a respected individual evenhandedly explaining the complexities of a nuanced issue.
Thats what Im saying; experts are free to post directly to a mass audience.
Agree with the others - in a world where every person can freely share their direct opinion, it is more critical than ever to have individuals whose role it is to research, contextualize, and present the issue in a constructive and clear fashion.
The problem of media capture by various groups is an issue, certainly, but that means it’s something we have to be wary of and build boundaries against - because the key role they serve is still in place. Throwing out the entire system because of that issue is like deciding that we no longer need doctors because the for-profit medical system is broken.
Pundentry does not provide us with researched, contextualize, constructive editorilizing. These people are bought and paid for. The only outlook they give us is how corporate intrerst will rationalize this so the bottom line stays in tact.
No more pundits, we need more creators! This is a good example,
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C53rriiRuIl/?igsh=MW5jdWF5MGltdDY5Nw==
We might need professional thinkers to give comments.
The importance of pundits has been diminishing for years now for several reasons:
The world is increasingly complex and opaque. If someone claims to know what’s really going on, don’t believe them.
A pundit’s main talent these days is to be comfortable in front of a camera, and to be able to pontificate at length. This is only loosely connected with any actual expertise or experience they may have.
A successful pundit needs to be aware of the hosting organization’s biases. If they go on a mainstream cable network with an anti-corporate message they will be swiftly shitcanned.
News orgs have been slashing budgets for overseas, on the ground reporting so we get pundits who have access to the same information as everyone else.
