How to stop the sorry cycle of punditry

Giant media companies have turned the way we learn about current events from information centers to PR and advertising machines.

Shock and awe gets ratings, fear and debasement get eyes on screens. Less facts, more panels and more discussion. The more they talk, the less of a chance you think about it. This negative feedback loop is not an accident, it is a business plan.

It is no surprise that pundits have come to dominate the media landscape because pundits make the ownership money and push public debate to an area that directly benefits the people paying them.

Pundits say the most outrageous thing, offer no solutions, and then traipse on to the next topic, experts in nothing and always the loudest in the room. Pundits sell books, get ad revenue from their podcasts, radio shows and blogs or websites run by the companies who put these personalities on the air. Pundits push an opinion to ensure money invested by these conglomerates into political parties pays off.

Pundits are not here to inform you. Pundits are here to sell you something that is in someone else's interest. Their personal sincerity aside, their sophistry is a con, a cheap intellectual trick in lieu of expertise. They give you nothing and benefit from what they take from you.

Quite honestly, if you, the average American, want to stop the cycle of punditry we find ourselves in that has so toxified our national discourse, then send a message with your wallet. Stop listening to partisan talk radio. Stop giving website hits, podcast downloads or airtime to pundits. Stop buying their merchandise, stop buying their books. Even the ones you agree with.

If these companies, as whole, can't make money off pundits, they will go away and maybe, just maybe, we'll get an honest reporter telling us the news.

Matt Binder

Wheaton