Blog Prompt # 3: Expert Commentary, Academic Feilds and Intellectual Diversity

Last week, we spent class talking about who gets classified as a "public intellectual" and seemed to arrive at a consensus that the people christened "public intellectuals" are often older, male and white. We could probably add that they usually work for elite educational institutions (MIT, University of Chicago, the Ivy League schools) or for elite media outlets (the New York Times, CNN, etc.). In preparation for our discussion of The Space of Opinion: Media Intellectuals and the Public Sphere next Tuesday, I want to ask a slightly different question about the diversity of the commentators and experts we see, hear and read in the media. In your view, what academic fields or disciplines (Sociology, Psychology, Economics, Political Science, English, History, etc.) are most well represented in the media and which tend to be less common or invisible? Also, how diverse are the intellectual or philosophical perspectives of the majority of commentators in the media? Are there certain perspectives that are over-represented in discussions taking place in the media? Are there perspectives that are under-represented or even stigmatized and actively scorned? I look forward to seeing your posts...