{{short description|Someone who offers their opinion via mass media}}
{{redirect|Pundits|the Yale secret society|The Pundits}}
{{other uses|Pandit (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Secretary Kerry Chats With 'Morning Joe' Co-Hosts Scarborough, Brzezinski Before Appearing on MSNBC Program in New York (26159251312).jpg|thumb|275x275px|Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC's ''Morning Joe'' are examples of political pundits.]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}} {{Journalism sidebar}}
A '''pundit''' or '''pundette''' is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media.<ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of Pundit |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pundit |publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=25 February 2024 |date=22 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Pundit |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/pundit |publisher=Dictionary.com |access-date=25 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Pundit |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/pundit |access-date=25 February 2024 |publisher=Cambridge Dictionary}}</ref> They are often conservative. The term was coined in the 1990s to describe anti-Bill Clinton commentators who came to prominence on cable TV during the Lewinsky scandal.
==Origins== The term originates from the Sanskrit term {{Transliteration|sa|pandit}} (''{{Transliteration|sa|paṇḍitá}}'' {{Lang|sa|पण्डित}}), meaning "knowledge owner" or "learned man".<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Pundit |volume=22 |page=649}}</ref> It refers to someone who is erudite in various subjects and who conducts religious ceremonies and offers counsel to the king and usually referred to a person from the Hindu Brahmin but may also refer to the siddhas, Siddhars, Naths, ascetics, sadhus, or yogis (rishi).
From at least the early 19th century, a pundit of the supreme court in Colonial India was an officer of the judiciary who advised British judges on questions of Hindu law. In Anglo-Indian use, ''pundit'' also referred to a native of India who was trained and employed by the British to survey inaccessible regions beyond the British frontier.<ref>"pundit, n." in ''Oxford English Dictionary''</ref>
==Current use== {{Globalize|section|US|date=September 2020}} Josef Joffe's book chapter ''The Decline of the Public Intellectual and the Rise of the Pundit'' describes a change in the role of public experts and relates to developments in the audience and the media itself.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|first=Josef |last=Joffe|chapter=The Decline of the Public Intellectual and the Rise of the Pundit|editor-first1= Arthur M. |editor-last1=Melzer|editor-first2= Richard M. |editor-last2=Zinmann|title= The Public Intellectual, Between Philosophy and Politics |year=2003|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|pages=109–122}}</ref> In the second half of the 20th century, foreigners like Hannah Arendt or Jürgen Habermas and others gained a certain position in the US as public intellectuals due to the (over)specialization of US academics.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline, With a New Preface and Epilogue|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gsoqJtai7moC|publisher = Harvard University Press|date = 30 June 2009|isbn = 9780674042278|language = en|first = Richard A.|last = POSNER|pages = 4–5}}</ref>
A pundit now combines the roles of a public intellectual and has a certain expertise as a media practitioner. They play an increasing role in disseminating ideas and views in an accessible way to the public.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Political Web: Media, Participation and Alternative Democracy|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OXCYAAAAQBAJ|publisher = Palgrave Macmillan|date = 2013|isbn = 9781137326386|language = en|first = Peter|last = Dahlgren|page = 94}}</ref> From Joffe's view, Karl Marx in Europe and e.g. in the US, Mark Twain were early and ''relentless pundits'' ante festum.<ref name=":0"/> In addition, the growing role of think tanks and research institutions like the Brookings Institution, the American Enterprise Institute and the Manhattan Institute provided a place for those dealing with 'big issues' in public language.<ref name=":0"/>
The term ''talking head'' (in existence since 1964<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/talking%20head| title = Talking head Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster}} </ref>) has derogatory overtones. For example, the judge in the David Westerfield trial in San Diego in 2002 said "The talking heads are doing nothing but speculating about what the jury may or may not be thinking".<ref>Dillon, Jeff, and Steve Perez. [http://legacy.utsandiego.com/news/metro/danielle/20020815-9999-morning.html "Judge denies defense motion to sequester jury,"] San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 August 2002. Retrieved 22 April 2014.</ref>
Punditry has become a more popular vehicle in nightly newscasts on American cable news networks. A rise of partisanship among popular pundits began with Bill O'Reilly of Fox News Channel. His opinion-oriented format led him to ratings success and has led others, including Bill Maher, Keith Olbermann, and Nancy Grace to express their opinions on matters on their own programs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/mediamix/2006-09-24-media-mix_x.htm |title=Cable rantings boost ratings |publisher=Usatoday.Com |date=3 October 2006 |access-date=8 July 2013}}</ref>
In sports commentating, a "pundit" or color commentator may be partnered with a play-by-play announcer who will describe the action while asking the pundit for analysis.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}
To the ''pundette'' version of the term, according to Stephen Klien, Assistant Teaching Professor of Political Communication at the University of Missouri, pundettes ''"seemed to capitalize on a combination of conservative identity, confrontational rhetorical style and sexual attractiveness in order to gain media attention".''<ref name="KLN">[https://www.academia.edu/3047461/Ann_Coulters_Inconvenient_Gender_The_Conservative_Feminine_Persona_and_Legitimate_Public_Agency Stephen Klien, "Ann Coulter's Inconvenient Gender: The Conservative Feminine Persona and Legitimate Public Agency", Proceedings of 2011 National Communication Association Convention]</ref> The term is sometimes used dismissively by those that disagree with a pundette's position.<ref name="SPC">[https://spectator.org/49714_dowd-syndrome/ Hunter Baker, "Down Syndrome", The American Spectator, 19 August 2004]</ref> Women described as pundettes, however, often embrace the term.<ref name="EST">Susan Estrich, ''Sex & Power'', New York: Riverhead Books, 2001, {{ISBN|1-57322-893-1}}, page 207</ref> More recently the term has expanded to include women commentators in a variety of fields, political views and races.<ref name="GIL">[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/theater/reviews/summer-shorts-at-59e59-theaters.html Daniel M. Gold, "Mixing It Up With the Charmer, the Flight Attendant and the Pundette", New York Times, 1 September 2012]</ref>
== Examples == Popular in the United States during 2007 according to a ''Forbes'' top 10 list:<ref>{{Cite web|last=Riper|first=Tom Van|title=The Top Pundits In America|url=https://www.forbes.com/2007/09/21/pundit-americas-top-oped-cx_tvr_0924pundits.html|access-date=27 November 2020|website=Forbes|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Riper|first=Tom Van|title=In Pictures: America's Top Pundits|url=https://www.forbes.com/2007/09/21/pundit-americas-top-oped-cx_tvr_0924pundits_slide.html|access-date=27 November 2020|website=Forbes|language=en}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=April 2022|reason=WP:FORBESCON}}
* Politics and current events ** Al Franken ** Bill Maher ** Bill O'Reilly ** Geraldo Rivera ** Greta Van Susteren ** Lou Dobbs ** Rosie O'Donnell ** Rush Limbaugh ** Ann Coulter<ref name="LAT1">[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-may-27-ca-34491-story.html Paul Farhi, "The Voice of Experience? Um, Not Exactly", Los Angeles Times, 27 May 2000]</ref> ** Kellyanne (Fitzpatrick) Conway<ref name="LAT1" /> ** Maureen Dowd ** Nancy Giles ** Laura Ingraham<ref name="LAT1" /> ** Heather Nauert<ref name="LAT1" /> ** Barbara Olson<ref name="LAT1" /> * Film ** Roger Ebert ** Leonard Maltin
== See also == * Columnist * Opinion leadership * Carl Diggler – fictional character parodying contemporary American political pundits * Stephen Colbert (character) * Talk radio * Talk show
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Wiktionary}} Category:Political commentators Category:Mass media