Proliferative Pundits
My advisor suggested that, before my prospectus defense, I write a couple of pages about punditry: its etymology, its connotations, its use in mass media, its use in the blogosphere, and what I mean when I use the term "punditry" in my dissertation. It's an apt recommendation, one a colleague had also made several weeks earlier, so I'm taking it to heart. I don't have the complete explication done yet, but this evening, I've been assembling links to weblogs with "pundit" in the title. If you know of others, please let me know.
Are you ready to find out how many blogs have "pundit" somewhere in the title? Even I was surprised...
So far, we've got [Disclaimer: I mean no offense to anyone in the list below. I'm just very interested in the uptake of the terms "pundit" and "punditry" in the blogosphere, and this list is merely an exercise I did out of curiosity.]:
- ArchPundit
- InstaPundit
- AfricaPundit
- FuturePundit
- GedankenPundit
- Isntapundit
- Publius Pundit
- AnkleBitingPundits
- Punditwatch
- QuasiPundit
- Happy Fun Pundit*
- VodkaPundit
- Allahpundit
- Sine Qua Non Pundit
- BusinessPundit
- Weekend Pundit
- Israpundit
- HokiePundit
- BitchPundit
- The Indepundit
- PoliPundit.com
- YOUNGPUNDIT.COM
- Powerpundit
- Viking Pundit
- Calpundit
- The Templar Pundit
- PRESTOPUNDIT
- Flight Pundit
- Mark The Pundit
- Daddypundit
- Patio Pundit
- PalmTree Pundit
- The Peoria Pundit
- EconoPundit
- Neophyte Pundit
- No Pundit Tended
- NZ Pundit
- EuroPundits
- Stephen Taylor - Conservative Party of Canada Pundit
- ParaPundit
- Martini Pundit
- Evil pundit of doom!
- Barcepundit
- No Pundit Intended
- Hispanic Pundit
- Daily Pundit
- Gateway Pundit
- Mommypundit
- Latino Pundit
- CaribPundit
- RoverPundit
- Lifelike Pundits
- Kiwi Pundit
- Neanderpundit
- ZenPundit
- The Noble Pundit
- GigglePundit
- The Dakota Pundit
- LawPundit
- Pejman Pundit
- Pajama Pundits
- Mister Pundit
- SobekPundit
- Israelpundit (different from Israpundit)
- SemiPundit
- Midwest Pundits
- PunditGuy
- Enviropundit
- Rafah Pundits
- LimeyPundit
- RightPundit
- Europundit (I have Europundits, plural, above, but this is Europundit, singular -- a different blog)
- IlliniPundit
- Pundit Ex Machina
- Tar Heel Pundits
- EtherPundit
- WhatsAPundit
- RoguePundit
- Korla Pundit
- The Self Made Pundit
- Shi'a Pundit
- MegaPundit
- LakePundit
- Paradigm Shifts - The Priss Pundit
- Punning Pundit
- PunditReview.com
- JURISPUNDIT
- Carpundit
- BuckeyePundit
- YalePundits
- The Country Pundit
- The Lazy Pundit
- NewsPundit.net
- Neophyte Pundit
- Pecoria Pundit
- Muslim Pundit
- N.O. Pundit
- Pundit Heads
- BlogPundit
- Pensacola Pundit
- Prince Pundit
- Grand Rapids Pundit
- Catholicpundits.com
- The AugiPundit
- Old Right Pundits
- Vices & Virtues - Political Punditry and Things
- The Pedantic Pundit
- Nocturnal Pundit
- Haiti Pundit
- Placid Pundit
- Berkeley Pundits
- Wahoo Pundit
- Pabst Blue Ribbon Pundit
- Europunditry
- Minipundit
- Punditstar
- ConservaPundits
- TrinPundit
- Armchair Pundits
- Sgtpundit.com
- Rantingpundit
- Spundit
- GCC Pundit
- Sportspundit
- Punditchick
- Teenagepundit
- TaiwanPundit
- Bass Pundit
- The Affiliate Pundit
- VietPundit
- The Rude Pundit
- Virtual Pundit
- Medpundit
- Betapundit
- PachydermPundit
- Delicious Pundit
- KelliPundit
- Minnesota Pundit
- Part-Time Pundit
- Peach Pundit
- The Purple Pundit
- Cal Poly Pundit
- Buffalo Pundit
- The Zimbabwean Pundit
- Black Pundit
- Palmetto Pundit
- It'sAPundit
- Partisan Pundit
- Japundit
There's also someone who comments at some blogs with the handle "Spinstapundit."
An aside: While I absolutely agree that I need to explain the significance of the term "pundit" in blogging, the etymology, way I'm using it, etc., I have to say I'm shocked at how many people I talk to who have never heard the word before. I've been asked more than once if it's a term specific to the blogging lexicon, like "trackback." I thought "pundit" was about as household a word as "printer," "migration," or "hijack." Good to know.
Edited to add: I'm discovering some cool new blogs in this endeavor.
* Last I checked, the main page for Happy Fun Pundit was down, but the "Top 10 Things I Hate About Star Trek" post, one I've liked for some time now, is still available, so I linked to it instead.
- Clancy's blog
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Comments
Great Moments in Punditry as read by Children
I'm sure you're aware of this ongoing series, but in case you're not--The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has a regular bit in which children read some of the more biting or volatile moments from recent episodes of pundit commentary shows.
You don't have Rude Pundit on
You don't have Rude Pundit on the list. It's a good one.
Is it just me, or is pundit t
Is it just me, or is pundit taking on a kind of negative connotation? I have to confess that I tend to use "pundit" for someone who takes themselves very seriously, possibly too much so. Perhaps I'm connecting it with pontificate (and not in a papal sense). It has a kind of "talking head" connotation, and while "talking head" actually now seems kind of neutral to me, I think of it as originally being sort of denigrative (you know, folks who aren't actual full figures, we just brought in their heads to talk at you and lend some auctoritas to the proceedings).
Of course it could just me be...
Rude Pundit!
How could I forget the Rude Pundit?! It is a good one.
This is helpful, New Kid.
I appreciate your thoughts (yours too, Brendan -- I wish I had cable TV now!). I'm interested to know others' impressions of the words "pundit" and "punditry."
By the way, New Kid, I'm not ignoring this thread; I intend to respond whenever I can think of something halfway decent. :-)
mid-day on MPR
David Lillehaug descripbed himself this morning on Mid-day as:
"traveling the well worn path from failed candidate to pundit."
Thought you might like that, it brought a smlie to my lips.
Punditry
I've grown up in the DC area and lived here nearly all of my life, and the word "pundit" is in the drinking water, I believe. "Political Pundits" are what we specialize in, and the word has always had the connotation of someone who is actively involved in and extremely vocal about politics. A journalist? A commentator? A politician? Perhaps being well-known is part of the definition, too.
One More Pundit
I have "Virtual Pundit"
Added you
Thanks, Virtual Pundit! :-)
I'm so sick of the word that
I'm so sick of the word that for a couple of years now I have actually been assiduously avoiding blogs with the world "pundit" in the title!
It's never been anything like a popular word amongst anyone in my circles - other than with bloggers I come across on the web.
And though it's not specifically negative, I don't think it has a particularly positive connotation. I find the word a bit pretentious, frankly. (Though I imagine some people use it in their blog title because of that - as a sort of joke.) But I wouldn't want to DEFINE WHO I AM with label that means "critic" & "very opinionated"... Kind of makes one sound like an obstinate, judgemental, curmudgeon, doesn't it? hahaha! Not exactly someone with whom one would want to go on a Sunday afternoon picnic in the park. hahaha. ;)
Why I chose to be a "Pundit" blogger
Chloe,
I liked what you had to say about the connotations of the word "pundit." I thought perhaps you might like to hear the perspective of one of the miriad of pundits in the blogosphere. In my case it is a reaction to the punditry that i have been subjected to through the media all my life. Why are they so important, or why do their ideas and biases get published. What do they have to offer over lowly little me - who will never be published outisde of the letters to the editor section of my local paper - that is so valuable. I chose to have a pundit blog because I figure I have about as much to say as the rest of them, not because I thought that was so much or so important.
Connotations of "pundit"
New Kid: "Is it just me, or is pundit taking on a kind of negative connotation?"
If it is, then that's all for the best, but the people who seem to be most under the sway of the "pundit" spell (such as, for example, the "pundits" themselves) still seem to be under the impression that it's something good to be--if perhaps the occasion for a little phoney self-effacing humor.
So, just to make sure that lines of communication remain clear, I'll stick to calling them "know-nothing blowhards" for the time being.
Why I chose Pundit
Aside from the illiteration, I chose pundit for it's exact meaning; a source of opinion or a learned person. My particular style of punditry is pedantic. But I think that first and basic meaning is what makes the sobriquet so popular. Isn't that the power of the blogshpere? ANYBODY can get thier opinion heard, just by typing it out. I think the reclaiming of the term pundit, is at the root of the 'battle' that is raging between the main stream media and bloggers.
Good Luck
Good luck for the defense! I happened to stumble on your blog upon the recommendation of a friend. As someone who went through a prospectus defense not too long ago I kinda like the idea of an intellectual genealogy as a presentation/discussion. I think you've already been through the worst - finding a date and time that everyone can agree on! Perhaps you might want to tape the defense - might be difficult to recall everything right there and then since I remember being in a blur right afterwards (but then again at my school the defense is structured quite formally) and you might want to chat with your chair right after or vice versa :-).