PP1 - Political Pundits

Political Pundits: The Joe Rogan Experience

The development of digital media has given countless people a large platform to spread their political commentary. These people are referred to as political pundits who provide their predictions and views on political issues and events (Investopedia). Political punditry plays a significant role in shaping the public's opinion on important issues and events. Oftentimes, political pundits do not take on a traditional journalist role, but rather provide "hot takes" in lieu of evidence-based reporting. "Hot takes" refer to very black-and-white opinions and commentary on current issues and culture. 

In an article from New Matilda, journalist Joshua Dabelstein touches on the impact of "hot takes" on the public's opinion. He focuses on the spread of conspiracy during the assassination attempt on Trump back in July, and how posts that were making baseless claims were receiving thousands of likes and comments. "Hot takes" can be a particularly dangerous form of predictive journalism because, most of the time, they are pure opinion and do not have any evidence to back them up. Some political pundits use "hot takes" in their content because it is a quick and easy way to increase audience engagement. 

Joe Rogan is a comedian who hosts a podcast called The Joe Rogan Experience, where he discusses a plethora of topics with his guests. Most notably, though, he talks about politics, and has hosted many political figures on the podcast, such as Bernie Sanders, Andrew Yang, and Robert Kennedy Jr., to name a few. While these podcast episodes are not entirely made up of predictive journalism, they often venture into opinions and projections because of the format of the show, where Joe Rogan and his guests will talk for a long period of time. Some of his guests, as well as Rogan himself, will bring up "hot takes" on the podcast, while others will back their predictions and opinions with evidence and data. 

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The Joe Rogan Experience can be very hit-or-miss in regards to whether its guests are providing factual-based arguments or not. Rogan's podcast differs from other forms of political punditry because of the way that it is set up. The long-interview-based format allows guests to branch off into multiple tangents without much thought into providing evidence. One of his most popular guests, Alex Jones, who owns Infowars and is a far-right radio host, brings a few of his conspiracy theories to the podcast in the video below. 

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In the clip above, Alex Jones spews off conspiracy about NASA being the "real government" under the ploy of space advancement, along with other unfounded claims. Multiple times throughout the video, he says to "look it up" in reference to the assertions that he makes, rather than providing his own research and evidence. Jones telling the audience to "look it up" is his way of trying to provide evidence without actually providing it. In actuality, we don't know if we will be able to find credible sources on the claims that he is making if we look it up, or if we will be able to find the sources that he is basing is claims off of.  

Giving conspiracy theorists a platform, such as Joe Rogan gave to Alex Jones through his podcast, can lead to an extensive amount of misinformation being spread. In fact, Alex Jones was recently sued by Sandy Hooks families for 1.5 billion dollars because he made the claim that the Sandy Hooks shooting never happened (NPR). Political pundits like Alex Jones can be dangerous if given a platform because their claims do not hold evidence. 

The Joe Rogan Experience does have some examples of evidence-based reporting, though. In one episode with columnist Kat Timpf, she and Rogan talk about whether post-election violence will lead to more government control over free speech. In real-time, Rogan provides evidence of a statement given by Kamala Harris talking about needing more regulation for social media websites. 

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Providing evidence, such as Rogan did in the clip above, establishes credibility for predictive journalism. By showing the audience the exact quote that he was talking about, Rogan was able to back up his opinion on censorship in the media. This is where political punditry can be beneficial in allowing the general public to form their own opinion based on what the pundit says and the evidence that is given. 

With that being said, it is important for political pundits to consider the content that they are putting out, and how it can impact the way that the audience thinks. Analysis of political issues and events can help broaden the public's perspectives, as seen in the episode with Kat Timpf, but it can also lead to the spread of misinformation, such as the episode with Alex Jones. Even though political punditry is based on predictions and opinions, it is necessary to supply evidence to the audience rather than making unverified claims that diminish the credibility of a reporter.