TV Pundit School?

From NY Times:

Journalists once had to achieve a certain gravitas before appearing on television as a political expert, but not anymore. Thanks to the 24-hour news cycle, a riveting presidential election and the proliferation of cable channels, people like Mr. Freire, who is 26 and has been managing editor of The American Spectator, a conservative magazine, since January, are finding themselves in hot demand.

Tucker Carlson may have paved the way, becoming a host of “Crossfire” when barely over age 30. More-recent role models include Luke Russert, the 23-year-old son of the late Tim Russert, who was hired by NBC this summer to cover the youth vote, and Rachel Maddow, who is 35 and rose from nowhere to become a top-rated headliner on MSNBC.

This is no joke:

This led him to the Leadership Institute, a conservative policy group in Arlington, Va., that has given courses in punditry to nearly 600 people this year, up from 461 in 2005. The institute offers various courses, from a $75 basic lecture to a $1,500 three-hour one-on-one session. The American Spectator paid to send Mr. Freire to the most advanced class.

And so he found himself on a recent Monday in a mock studio, watching a tape of a practice interview he had just done on privatizing Social Security, with several coaches critiquing his performance.

“That was great when J. P. said, ‘The question is, can you trust government?’ ” said Ian Ivey, the communications director at the Leadership Institute. “But then you need to follow up with a sound bite that you can expect to hear on ‘Hannity’ later.” (The reference was to “Hannity & Colmes,” the popular talk show on Fox.)

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