The road to punditry (Part 1 of 2)

In a previous post I stated that not all wrestlers began their careers in the ring. Prior to pursuing wrestling, they often came from the worlds of Football or College wrestling (Greco roman). Most of today's current pundits also didn't start their careers in journalism. Liberals tend to start their careers by way of comedy whereas conservatives often begin as lawyers.

I decided to make a list of the APF roster's prior biography to see if my anecdotal assertions held true.

For each APF member I will list 2 categories:
1) Duration as a pundit. First National TV or Radio appearance as an APF pundit.
2) Career before punditry

Tucker Carlson
1) Since 1996. Co hosted CNN's The Spin Room
2) Journalist

Ann Coulter
1) Since 1996. MSNBC as a legal correspondent.
2) Lawyer

Stephen Colbert
1) Since 2005. Headlining Daily Show spinoff, The Colbert Report
2) Actor and Comedian

Al Franken
1) Since 2004. Hosting Air America Radio's flagship show, The Al Franken Show (formerly The O'Franken Factor)
2) Writer and Comedian

Janeane Garofalo
1) Since 2003. TV spokesperson and activist for 'Win Without War'. An official working pundit since 2004, as co-host of Air America Radio's The Majority Report
2) Actor and Comedienne

Sean Hannity
1) Since 1987. Talk Radio host on KCSB-FM, a volunteer college station at UC Santa Barbara.
2) Construction and Bartending

Hugh Hewitt
1) Since 1990. Weekend talk radio host for KFI in Los Angeles.
2) Lawyer and Political appointee

Laura Ingraham
1) Since 1996. CBS commentator and host of Watch it on MSNBC
2) Lawyer and Presidential speechwriter

Mark Levin
1) Since 2002. Sunday evening talk Radio host on WABC. He was a frequent contributor on Rush Limbaugh's show many years prior.
2) Lawyer and adviser to Presidential members

Rush Limbaugh
1) Since 1984. As a radio talk show host at KFBK in Sacramento
2) Top 40 (music) Radio DJ and Promotions Director for a Major League Baseball team

Rachel Maddow
1) Since 2002. Radio talk show host at Massachusetts station WRNX, after winning a contest for a new on-air personality
2) Rhodes Scholar with a doctorate in politics from Oxford University

Bill Maher
1) Since 1993. Created and hosted Politically Incorrect for Comedy Central
2) Comedian, Actor and writer

Michelle Malkin
1) Since 2003. A Fox News contributor. Has been a national columnist for The Los Angeles Daily News since 1992.
2) Columnist

Keith Olbermann
1) Since 2003. Headlines his own political commentary show, Countdown on MSNBC.
2) Sportscaster on TV and Radio

Bill O'Reilly
1) Since 1980. Anchored his own program for WCBS-TV in New York. Moving to the national news scene reporting for CBS and ABC News.
2) Print and broadcast journalist

Randi Rhodes
1) Since the late 80s. Co hosted a radio program on Milwaukee's WQFM.
2) Former secretary, waitress, trucker and US Air Force aircraft mechanic

Joe Scarborough
1) Since 2003. Hosts his own Political opinion show Scarborough Country
2) Republican congressman then Lawyer

Ed Schultz
1) Since 2004. Ed debut his own show, The Ed Schultz Show. Ed has been providing his views since 1992, a regional talk show, News and Views
2) Sportscaster for 15 years

Sam Seder
1) Since 2004. Co-host along with Janeane Garofalo of Air America Radio's The Majority Report.
2) Comedian, Writer, Actor, TV and Film director, Producer

Jon Stewart
1) Since 1999. Took over hosting duties for Comedy Central's The Daily Show
2) Comedian, TV host and Actor

So let's tally it up.
Of 10 Conservative pundits we have:
- 4.5 Lawyers (Scarborough practiced law after serving as congressman),
- 2 Journalists,
- 4 Miscellaneous

Of 9 liberal pundits we have:
- 5 Comedians (4 of which are also Actors),
- 0 Journalists,
- 4 Miscellaneous

And the only APF independent, Bill O'Reilly. He's a journalist.

Go to The road to punditry (Part 1 of 2)