Pundits and the People

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Al Gore and George W. Bush finish their final, televised campaign debate, the pundits are just beginning, and ultimately, the pundits will get a lot more media time than the candidates. We'll discuss what punditry is, how people get to be pundits, what it's like to be one, and hear different opinions about their influence on America's democratic process. Joining us are pundits from several sides of the political spectrum, including O'Donnell, a commentator and Senior Political Analyst for MSNBC who is also well known as the writer-producer of the NBC TV drama The West Wing?. Newsmaker: Reports out of Egypt say that both have sides signed a "statement of intent" calling for "immediate and concrete steps" to end the Middle East violence, re-deploy Israeli troops and begin an investigation led by the US in conjunction with Israelis and Palestinians and in consultation with the United Nations. Samah Jabr, a medical student living in East Jerusalem and a columnist for The Palestine Report, reflects the statement's affect in East Jerusalem. Reporter's Notebook: An important bit of American history has ended with the death of Gus Hall. The chair of the US Communist Party for 40 years is dead at 90. Not even the fall of the Soviet Union shook Gus Hall's faith in Communism. Albert Fried, retired Professor of History at the State University of New York who specializes in radical politics in America, gives us some historical perspective.
Al Gore and George W. Bush finish their final, televised campaign debate, the pundits are just beginning, and ultimately, the pundits will get a lot more media time than the candidates. We'll discuss what punditry is, how people get to be pundits, what it's like to be one, and hear different opinions about their influence on America's democratic process. Joining us are pundits from several sides of the political spectrum, including O'Donnell, a commentator and Senior Political Analyst for MSNBC who is also well known as the writer-producer of the NBC TV drama The West Wing?.
  • Newsmaker: Reports out of Egypt say that both have sides signed a "statement of intent" calling for "immediate and concrete steps" to end the Middle East violence, re-deploy Israeli troops and begin an investigation led by the US in conjunction with Israelis and Palestinians and in consultation with the United Nations. Samah Jabr, a medical student living in East Jerusalem and a columnist for The Palestine Report, reflects the statement's affect in East Jerusalem.
  • Reporter's Notebook: An important bit of American history has ended with the death of Gus Hall. The chair of the US Communist Party for 40 years is dead at 90. Not even the fall of the Soviet Union shook Gus Hall's faith in Communism. Albert Fried, retired Professor of History at the State University of New York who specializes in radical politics in America, gives us some historical perspective.

Shorenstein Center

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney