TW: It figures there is actually an institute to help folks become better talking heads (somewhat oxymoronic I know), the generally highly annoying and not particularly insightful group of people polluting the airwaves. Naturally the conservatives have the lead through their Leadership Institute (obviously they start with the handicap of being conservative and therefore need more training). As I have mentioned before, sticking a couple of pundits on camera with a usually equally vapid host is one of the cheapest means by which to fill airtime.
From the NYT:
"...He is being trained to carve his conservative philosophy into bite-size nuggets — preferably ones that end with a zinger — and to avoid questions he doesn’t like. He is discovering the right way to attack opponents (with a smile) and to steer a conversation in his direction (by interrupting).
Journalists once had to achieve a certain gravitas before appearing on television as a political expert, but not anymore...
This led him to the Leadership Institute, a conservative policy group in Arlington, Va., that has given courses in punditry to nearly 600 people this year, up from 461 in 2005. The institute offers various courses, from a $75 basic lecture to a $1,500 three-hour one-on-one session...Training, of course, doesn’t hurt. For whatever reason, some television bookers say that Republicans are way ahead of Democrats when it comes to grooming their young for political talk shows...
[Tucker] Carlson, now with MSNBC, says that media training is unnecessary. “It’s pretty simple,” he said of what he does. “Don’t wear white, show up sober and try to speak in complete sentences.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/fashion/26pundit.html
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