Punditry in the Information Age

ABSTRACT:
The first Knowledge Class career I am going to investigate in detail in The Future 101 premium service will be that of pundit.  It includes columnists, bloggers, speakers, consultants, authors, etc.  Currently, this is generally being understood to be people who write and speak with authority on civic matters.  The definition, however, will be much more extensive in the Information Age. 

For example, quibis astronomicae is a facezine that is providing an outlet to about a half dozen astronomy and space pundits.  Such pundits will have increasing opportunities for compensated exposure much of which may reside in several boutique homepages.  In the Information Age, there will be orchid growing pundits, antique Mercedes pundits, private equity market pundits, Thai cuisine pundits, well, the list almost doesn't end.  Essentially anything that has blogs now will have pundits then.


To better understand the difference a blogger and a pundit, visit Dennis Prager's site.  You will notice that he essentially has a blog under his link 'articles.'  However, he also has audiocasts.  He has a premium content subdirectory entitled Pagertopia, costing $54.95 per year.  He sells Prager items in his store.  Through groups he facilitates offline Prager fans.  He has a tab, University, a series of 5 minute video lectures.  And you can book him for a speaking engagement.  That is how Dennis Prager has transcended a talk show radio personality and become a multi-service pundit.  Of course, each pundit will create a web presence and their own unique combination of offerings.

By organizing the Polymathica market and making it readily and cost effectively available to aspiring pundits, the mass migration from marginal blogger, consultant, etc. to affluent pundit will begin.  There will, of course, be behemoths in the market.  However, the typical pundit, residing in the very, very long tail, will likely belong to a network or roundtable of a half a dozen pundits (as with quibis astronomicae) sporting 100,000 subscribers.

With a annual subscription of $54.95 for all six pundits, perceived value will be high.  At this price point and audience, each pundit will realize a $500K 2012USD income.  That is low by Knowledge Class standards, but, like Dennis Prager, they will have the opportunity to augment their income with speaking or consulting engagements, books, endorsed products, etc.  Also, as the inexorable march into the post Income Explosion world of Finely Crafted Lives, subscription rolls and rates will increase.

Throughout the 2010's, the industry will grow to about $35 billion 2012USD, of which about $3.5 billion will be in Polymathica.  However, as The Cultures of Affluence and their dedication to a Finely Crafted Life emerges, it will quickly grow by tenfold or more.   At the outset, Polymathica.com will be able to support about 1,500 pundits.  At maturity, that number will likely have grown to over 10,000.

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The Polymathic Institute, through Polymathica.com, will be promoting a wide variety of pundits and providing them with the tools they will need to reach six figure incomes. The first step is to become a member

The Polymathic Institute.