Pundits’ Performance
There is a wealth of self-proclaimed pundits providing pronouncements on sports, politics, the economy, and so on. There seem to be unlimited numbers of Democrat and Republican strategists. Some are wizened pros that have been through many campaigns, some successful and some less so. Many are quite young. Despite having seemingly no credentials, they are happy to make sweeping pronouncements about global warming, same-sex marriage, and tea party turmoil.
Editorial writers for major newspapers seem to be better informed and balanced, and are usually quite transparent about their liberal or conservative leanings. They are usually clear about their opinions versus observations based on data. My experience has been that print journalists are much more thought provoking that television or radio journalists. Writing takes much more discipline than speaking. Of course, reading also takes more discipline than listening. Sound bites are much more likely to be misleading.
Sports pundits are rather different. Many are former professional athletes or coaches. So, they have reasonable credentials. Their prognostications are readily evaluated by the outcomes of the sport they follow. The successes of their predictions are tabulated and reported. They tend to do a bit better than just flipping coins, but are seldom highly successful. Nevertheless, fans seem to enjoy their banter and tune in regularly.
How are pundits judged? Expecting their predictions to be correct is a tough yardstick. We can assess whether or not sports pundits’ predictions are accurate. However, it is difficult to evaluate the statement by the 28-year-old Republican strategist that global warming is a hoax and same-sex marriage will lead to the end of civilization. It is equally difficult to judge the equally young Democratic strategist pronouncement that income inequality will likely lead to a revolt of the downtrodden.
It may be that people like pundits whose pronouncements agree with their positions and whose choices of positions and articulations are entertaining. People are not looking for enlightenment. They want to feel comfortable in their preconceived opinions and entertained in the process. It is not about fact-finding journalism. It is about intellectual comfort food with a few laughs thrown in for entertainment.
