Primetime Pundits

Primetime Pundits explores the ascent of punditry and offers a new approach for understanding how social issues are covered in the changing media landscape. Based on extensive research of primetime news coverage of social issues, Letukas analyzes how pundits have come to dominate our national political dialogue over the past thirty years.

Lynn Letukas is assistant research scientist at the College Board and independent research scholar.

Chapter 1: What is a Pundit? Chapter 2: The Ascent of Punditry Chapter 3: The Era of Infotainment: The Rise of Television Punditry and Sound Bite News Chapter 4: Constructing the News Chapter 5: Packaging Pundit Claims about Social Issues Chapter 6: How Primetime Pundits Politicize News Chapter 7: Justifying Day Two: How Cable News Sustains a Story Chapter 8: A Model for Partisan News Appendix A: Methodology Appendix B: Case Studies