Mass media

• Religious Freedom Requires Constant Protection,
  If a nation disrespects religious freedom, “all other rights
  Constant and vigorous protection of religious freedom is essential to world peace and democracy, an array of human rights experts and religious freedom leaders told the audience at a recent event hosted by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) and The Washington Times Foundation.
• Religious freedom serves communities as well as individuals, said Prof. Cole Durham Jr., director of the Brigham Young University's International Center for Law and Religious Studies.
• UPF and The Washington Times Foundation are committed to protect, defend and advance religious liberty universally.
• Together we will roll back the tyranny of all God-denying ideologies and build a better world.”
  The UPF and Washington Times Foundation event was covered in a Jan. 31 Washington Times article, under the headline, “Japan’s dispute with church a test of liberty everywhere.”

• Sinclair today announced Amy Calvert has been named Vice President/General Manager of KOKH/FOX and KOCB, Sinclair’s television stations in Oklahoma City.
• Calvert joins Sinclair from KJRH, the Scripps Media television station in Tulsa, where she most recently served as VP/GM.
• In making the announcement, Rob Weisbord, Sinclair’s Chief Operating Officer and President of Local Media, said, “Amy is a seasoned executive with deep roots in Oklahoma.
• “As a lifelong Oklahoman, I’m honored to join the amazing teams at KOKH, KOCB and the Sinclair Family.

• Lippmann, a Pulitzer Prize winner, wrote a syndicated column on national and international affairs.
• He advocated a philosophy in which honest reflection on common experiences would lift citizens out of their parochial worldviews.
• A pundit is someone who offers commentary in the media on a particular subject area.
• I want to suggest that pundits support democracy when their combat is driven by ideas rather than tribal identities.

Pundit proliferation

• Mass media in the 1950s featured radio hosts who delighted in browbeating callers.
• The rise of a television pundit class in the 1960s established a new type of celebrity, thanks largely to William F. Buckley’s “Firing Line,” which ran from 1966 to 1999.
• Lippmann’s vision of the pundit as public intellectual sought to preserve “the traditions of civility” during the advent of broadcast media.
• The aspiration was hardly a source of inspiration for “The McLaughlin Group” and other shout shows launched in the 1980s.

Incentives to punch up

• Columnists cannot replicate the visceral experience of the shout shows, although the ability of readers to graze online heightens the incentive to punch up punditry.
• The term “pundit,” though, is derived from the Sanskrit word “pandrita,” meaning “learned.” Many pundits are not trained in journalism.
• As a scholar of political communication, I believe punditry is likely to become more specialized in catering to particular interests.
• This trend works against Lippmann’s principle of commentary that offers reflection on common experiences.

Pundits and democracy

• Commentary that oversimplifies policy disagreement erodes the trust that citizens have for each other, especially when opponents are belittled.
• Pundits contribute to democratic backsliding when they cultivate dystopian views of politics.
• The best example is the relentless negativity that characterized commentary on presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in 2016.
• The authors reported that “political differences of opinion do not, in and of themselves, harm attitudes toward politics and politicians.

Supporting democracy

• Many political theorists insist that there is democratic value in heated commentary that calls out injustice.
• Media scholar Patricia Rossini suggests that in evaluating political expression, people should be concerned not so much about tone as tolerance.
• Audiences should also keep in mind the incentives of pundits, especially when commentators use their platforms to nurture relationships with politicians who undermine democracy.

Mike McDevitt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Salt Lake City, UT, Oct. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CenExel is proud to announce the appointment of Sandra Parrish Woodlief as its new Chief Marketing and Communications Officer.
• Before joining CenExel, Sandra served as Global Head of Marketing at Median Technologies, an innovative medical imaging company.
• During this time, Sandra held various leadership roles, spearheading marketing initiatives addressing all phases of clinical development and drug commercialization.
• "I am thrilled to have Sandra Woodlief on board as our Chief Marketing and Communications Officer," said Stuart Goldblatt, CEO of CenExel.