If you spend enough time following the news, you may begin to feel like you’ve made some unexpected friends. Like Norm Ornstein, the oft-quoted watcher of all things Congress; or Mark Zandi, the widely cited economist; or Larry Sabato, University of Virginia political scientist and, according to The Wall Street Journal, “the most-quoted college professor in the land.”
Call them what you will—experts, quote machines, pundits. But by any name, these are the folks who pop out of well-worn Rolodexes and turn up in news stories, providing quotes, quips, and the occasional
insight, again and again and again.
CJR is compiling a list of the usual suspects. And we eventually plan to track how often these professional pundits show up in the press.
But before we can get going, we’d like to ask your help. Who would you put on the list, people whose quotes you can see coming a mile away? Who are you especially tired of hearing from? Or, conversely, which repeat player’s quotes do you still like to read no matter how many times they are quoted?
Hmm, let's see. How about Jeff Jarvis? And Jeff Jarvis. Oh, also, Jeff Jarvis. Reminds me of the old saying about a former talkative mayor of New York: "Mayor Koch was unavoidable for comment."
Ask Jeff how many successful online businesses he's created with the advice he gives. And yet, he's the go-to person for a quote on all matters of digital business.
#1 Posted by Kristian, CJR on Tue 27 Oct 2009 at 02:51 PM
I'll second Jeff Jarvis. He, along with a few other usual suspects, gets quoted a lot on NPR's On the Media. The idea of "usual supsects" on a media criticism show is ironic, of course.
How about General Anthony Cordesman? He's been quotable for about a decade, which presumably means he hasn't been in the military gaining expertise for at least that amount of time. I think the "military expert" field is probably a rich vein of quotable types.
An issue that is important when looking at "usual suspects" is lack of diversity. I'm not merely talking about ethnicity or gender, though there is a rather white, deep-voiced caste in the quote machine business. Regional diversity is also a problem. Northeastern and Washington-based pundits and quatables dominate, which leads to a flattening of the range of opinions presented.
#2 Posted by Shelly Brisbin, CJR on Tue 27 Oct 2009 at 03:05 PM
Kathleen Hall Jamison is ubiquitous on all things mass comm.
John Bolton is inexplicably quoted for all things Israel.
Newt Gingrich is inexplicably quoted for all things.
Dick Cheney is inexplicably quoted for all things war/torture/foreign policy.
Liz Cheney is ubiquitously quoted for all things war/torture/foreign policy, health care/ her dad.
Barry McCaffrey is found anywhere where is defense clients can make a buck.
CNN's Fran Townsend is quoted whenever the subject is her ex-boss prosecution for war crimes.
Dana Perino is quoted for all things Obama press office.
Karl Rove is quoted for all things Obama Administration.
more to come.....
#3 Posted by James, CJR on Tue 27 Oct 2009 at 09:06 PM
Robert Thompson, the professor at Syracuse who seems to show up in every pop-culture related story, especially in the NY Times.
Great idea, by the way-- and I hope you'll be mocking this lazy journalistic practice mercilessly (please).
#4 Posted by Jeff, CJR on Wed 28 Oct 2009 at 07:34 AM
Lessee now.
John McCain on the economy. John McCain on war. John McCain on health care. John McCain on derivatives. John McCain on women's reproductive health. John McCain on the internet tubes. John McCain on the budget. John McCain on Republicans. John McCain on women's clothing. John McCain on qualifications for Vice President. John McCain on interest rates. John McCain on energy. John McCain on cap-n-trade. John McCain on recession. John McCain on Russia. John McCain on Georgia. John McCain on missile defense. John McCain on diplomacy. John McCain on Alaska National Guard. John McCain on health insurance markets. John McCain on banking.
"Our economy, I think, is still -- the fundamentals of our economy are strong." --John McCain, Jacksonville, Fla., Sept. 15, 2008
"[Sarah Palin] knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America. ... And, uh, she also happens to represent, be governor of a state that's right next to Russia." -- John McCain, Portland, OR, Sept. 12, 2008
"She needed the clothes." -- John McCain, explaining to reporters why the RNC spent $150,000 on clothes and accessories for Sarah Palin and her family, Florida, Oct. 23, 2008
(NOTE: Not a comprehensive list.)
#5 Posted by James, CJR on Wed 28 Oct 2009 at 07:51 AM
Eric Davis, expert political scientist and analyst.
#6 Posted by James, CJR on Wed 28 Oct 2009 at 07:55 AM
Lots of good suggestions so far.
Here's one I like: Harley Shaiken, who is quoted in almost every story on Detroit, and in every story on Detroit labor relations.
Keep 'em coming!
#7 Posted by Clint Hendler, CJR on Wed 28 Oct 2009 at 10:27 AM
The Cato Institute's Michael Cannon is very often quoted on the topic of health reform.
#8 Posted by Justin Peters, CJR on Wed 28 Oct 2009 at 10:32 AM
Sherry Bebich Jaffe, an academic from California, seems to be on a lot of Rolodexes. (Oops, I'm dating myself). Stephen Gillers (sp.?) of NYU Law, I believe, always has a lot to say about the Supreme Court. Dr. Sidney Wolfe, a member of Ralph Nader's conglomerate, is always good for a sock puppet quote in support of some attack on private medicine or other. A fellow called McIntyre, of 'The Center for Budget and Policy Priorites', seems to have good connections to journalists, who supplement their quotes with those pie charts on income inequality that the group produces. These names are just off the top of my head with no research - like the way journalists use the information, come to think of it.
#9 Posted by Mark Richard, CJR on Wed 28 Oct 2009 at 12:21 PM
University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock is always cogent and interesting. From a reporter's point of view, he has the additional advantage of being quickly accessible on deadline almost no matter where he is. I've received e-mail his e-mail responses from, among other places, England, Italy, France and Japan.
#10 Posted by larry peterson, CJR on Wed 28 Oct 2009 at 02:36 PM
Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. He's everywhere.
#11 Posted by quadmoniker, CJR on Wed 28 Oct 2009 at 03:26 PM
He's generally good, I think, but what he says seems to always dovetail perfectly with conventional wisdom. It seems like journalists refuse to seek out any specialists on all matters Latin American, but rather turn to Riordan Roett, from Johns Hopkins, who has a history of being very cozy with governments as it is....
#12 Posted by Dan Fastenberg, CJR on Wed 28 Oct 2009 at 03:30 PM
In the tech world, you see the same analysts popping up constantly: Rick Doherty, Avi Greengart, Michael Gartenberg and Ross Rubin for hardware, and a I don't think anyone touches Rob Enderle when it comes to software soundbites. But the absolute worst of the overused are those all-things-Apple superanalysts, Shaw Wu and Gene Munster.
#13 Posted by Wilson Rothman, CJR on Wed 28 Oct 2009 at 03:49 PM
On TV, Doris Kearns Goodwin and David Gergen are over-exposed.
#14 Posted by Shaun Gerien, CJR on Thu 29 Oct 2009 at 12:54 AM
Some guy/gal named anonymous. They're everywhere...
#15 Posted by Strangely Enough, CJR on Thu 29 Oct 2009 at 12:53 PM
I don't supposed it's dawned on anyone how irresponsibly unscientific this is.
You take a Web audience that is inherently skewed toward one topic (journalism) and then ask them a general question and expect to get neutral information.
This is the same kind of garbage we'd see in print and, hopefully, CJR would criticize.
#16 Posted by Dan Gainor, CJR on Thu 29 Oct 2009 at 04:40 PM
Andrew Exum is relatively new to the quote-machine scene, but he's all over the place now because of his excellent blog and because he's been part of the strategy review in Afghanistan. In the same vein -- the go-to guys for quotes about counterinsurgency -- there's Dave Kilcullen. And then people usually quote Andrew Bacevich for the opposing view.
#17 Posted by Kathy Gilsinan, CJR on Fri 30 Oct 2009 at 10:38 AM
frank Gaffney. He's been quoted since Iran-contra days.
John McCain, failed Presidential candidate and ex-POW of 35 years ago, on everything, everywhere, all the time.
Liz Cheney. She lies.
#18 Posted by b ericson, CJR on Sat 31 Oct 2009 at 01:45 PM
general michael o'hanlon @ brookings institute
#19 Posted by butt sex, CJR on Sat 31 Oct 2009 at 05:40 PM
My favorite source is Greg Packer, a guy who has been several times quoted by reporters in various contexts for a 'man in the street' view. His eminence seems to derive from his reliability in providing quotes that serve as backup for the writer's framing device. Props to Mickey Kaus for being the one who started to notice how often this 'ordinary citizen' was being quoted in political stories.
#20 Posted by Mark Richard, CJR on Sun 1 Nov 2009 at 01:12 PM
How about Dan Gainor--he's a reliable conservative shill.
David Gergen is a regular spouter of conventional wisdom, i.e., he defends the ruling class from us, the people, who want change.
#21 Posted by woundedduck, CJR on Mon 2 Nov 2009 at 02:09 PM
Julian Zelizer.
And Sarah Palin's Facebook page.
#22 Posted by Hardrada, CJR on Mon 2 Nov 2009 at 03:39 PM
Aww woundedduck must need some love.
So I get criticized because this is horrifically unscientific and I call for better journalism? Woundedduck clearly cares nothing for journalism.
#23 Posted by Dan Gainor, CJR on Tue 3 Nov 2009 at 10:14 AM
Dan, CJR didn't ask for randomized data, they're asking for names. If they want to do a study, they will. Re: love--Everyone knows that if conservatives, from Nixon right on down to you, were regular recipients of fellatio, the world would be a better place.
#24 Posted by woundedduck, CJR on Tue 3 Nov 2009 at 04:20 PM
They asked for names, but which names are suggested is random data, not scientific. And the CJR audience is self selecting, so you get a very incomplete list this way.
#25 Posted by Dan Gainor, CJR on Mon 16 Nov 2009 at 08:32 AM