Black women pundits and the possibilities of critical discord

Abstract

Abstract Cable news has been critiqued as a problematic force that stokes partisan divides and threatens the kind of informed, civil discourse fundamental to democracy. Nevertheless, I argue that this perceived culture of incivility, or departure from traditional telejournalism practices, is in fact what allows some marginalized speakers to appropriate cable news as a space for subversive discourse. Using a Black feminist communication framework, this article analyzes how two Black women pundits—Angela Rye and Joy Reid—enact critical discord in their televisual performances. Critical discord is a discursive maneuver rooted in Black consciousness whereby pundits embrace their racial identity as a political subjectivity through which they engage a folk hermeneutic that deviates from hegemonic news values. These commentators operate as disruptors who refashion the tools of their genre—debate and sensationalism—to challenge dominant viewpoints which privilege colorblind interpretations of the news.