Pundits: Central to democracy, or partisan spewers of opinion who destroy trust

Two pundits – Jonah Goldberg, left, and Paul Begala, second from right – discus politics with journalists Kristen Holmes and Jake Tapper. The Conversation, CC BY-SA

Walter Lippmann, who lived from 1889 to 1974, was an early and prime example of the public intellectual as pundit commenting on news of the day.

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.