The perils of punditry
pundit: A scholar, teacher, or learned person
Well, that’s the theory anyway …
Over the years, the whole concept of the pundit has been twisted beyond recognition. This twisting reached its current height during the second Bush presidency. Political commentators (usually neo con) would appear on TV and radio and put forward opinion and talking points as fact. Even when their so-called facts bore little relation to the actual facts.
But this new-fangled punditry isn’t restricted to politics. It’s pervaded all walks of journalism. Including technical journalism, as this post by Carla Schroder points out. The post takes aim at:
… all the alleged journalists, reporters, and so-called analysts who write about Linux and [free and Open Source software] when they don’t know one single blinking thing about it.
Schroder points out a couple of well-known computer columnists who have been writing about Linux for a long time, but who had little practical experience with it. Sadly, you see this all the time. I’ve written about this a few times in the past.
If you’re going to express an opinion about something in print or on the Web, then make sure that it’s an informed opinion.
Take, for example, Windows Vista. If you look through everything that I’ve written over the last year, you’ll find that there’s nothing about Vista in there. Why? Partly because I have no interest in Vista. Mainly because I haven’t spent the time necessary to form a critical view of it. And until I take the time to do that, I refuse to write about Vista (or anything else).
Know your facts. Spend time with something that you’re reviewing. As I wrote in a previous post:
You should, though, have more than just a cursory knowledge of the subject. For example, if you’re reviewing a book on copywriting you should have done some copywriting yourself and/or (preferably and) read some of the better books on the subject.
Spouting off is easy. Critical thinking and challenging your ideas and opinions are difficult. The former is the quick route. The latter, a longer road but one that’s more fulfilling both professionally and personally.
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