Political Pundits

When you think of the term pundit, what comes to your mind? 

According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, a pundit is "a person who authoritatively gives opinions usually through the mass media." So, to put this in laments terms a political pundit, would be someone who is stating something political through the use of mass media (i.e., social media, blogs, podcasts, and videos).

A 22-year-old woman by the name of Amala Keeping comes to mind. Amala is a conservative social media influencer. 

In the video below, she speaks about how she was raised completely opposite to how she believes now. 

In this video, she speaks about how her parents divorced when she was young. She was raised primarily by her mom. Her mom was/still is a member of a liberal organization. Her mom is a fundraiser for the organization. Amala spoke about how she grew up in a democratically thinking community. When she was 17, she became a "youth organizer". In the video, she speaks about a meeting for the organization where she was very uncomfortable. In this meeting, the organization's members were speaking "blatantly racist" comments about white people. She then stated that she was concerned because she is half-white. 

To find more clarity, she spoke with the Vice President of the Organization. She asked, "Am I supposed to hate that side of my family?" In the video, she brings up that she is mixed. The organization hating 1 side of her family, but praising the other made her feel very unsettled. He told her that she should be angry too and that she needs to wake up to the harsh reality of the world. 

She knew in her heart that this wasn't something that matched up with who she wanted to become. She started to question everything she believed in. She also mentions that she truly believes that the US is segregated. 

She states that white Americans say that "we need to uplift black people, and in doing that we need to keep them in their separate categories and we need to give them their success. This perpetuates the very same racist narrative that they are trying to run away from, cause if black people can't do anything without your help, and without the help of white liberals- What are you saying about the black community?"

In another video, she provides background on how her thoughts on the police have changed. This video is titled, "How I stopped hating the police." She speaks about horrible circumstances that she watched on the news about African Americans being brutally beaten or murdered by police officers. She states that she was paid to protest with Black Lives Matter, and truly made this organization her home. During her time with Black Lives Matter, she was pulled over by a police officer for speeding. Whenever he pulled her over, she was terrified, she began crying in fear before he even got to her window. He came up to her door and stated he wasn't there to hurt her. Due to this encounter, she began to question all of her beliefs. She had 2 options in her head, either she was lied to, and police are not specifically targeting minorities or she met the only good cop in America. She then mentions statistics on how she believes that cops were not specifically targeting minorities. She mentions that yes, police brutality is a huge issue in our country. But, police are not specifically targetting black Americans. She later mentions that since she left the organization and now works for Prager University, she has worked with the Los Angeles police officers and has spoken with them about racism. 

So, what is Prager University?

Prager U is an American 501 nonprofit advocacy group that creates conservative content. "The Prager empire now has a fleet of 6,500 high school and college student promoters, known as the PragerForce, who host on-campus meetings and gather at least once a year for conventions."

What does Amala do for Prager University?

Amala was a part of the Prager Force. However, currently, she is the host of Prager University's Unapologetic show. On this show, she provides hot takes, political insights, researched theories, and her own opinions on matters concerning U.S. politics. This show is available through Prager's app, Spotify, and Youtube. This free app is called Prager U, which consists of a streaming channel available through iTunes or Apple Tv. Her show Unapologetic is one of the main features of this app. Even though her show focuses on anything political, most of her videos feature her speaking about; racism, women's rights, politics in pop culture, lgbtq+, and her thoughts about police. 

The description placed on youtube is listed below.

Her channel is: 

"An exploration of the biggest ideas and stories in culture, news, and politics for free thinkers with PragerU personality Amala Ekpunobi. PragerU is an educational media platform dedicated to promoting pro-American values. Our videos educate, inspire, and entertain millions of online viewers. Serving audiences of all ages, our informative content offers a free alternative to the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media, and education. Funded by hundreds of thousands of viewers, donations to PragerU are tax-deductible. Whether you’re searching for a deeper understanding, a new perspective, or a way to get involved, PragerU helps people think and live better."

Are her predictions of events or elections based on actual reporting or is her content filled with hot takes?

Some of her content is based on factual reporting. However, most of her content is her opinion while reacting to other content. 

see examples here: 

Her content consists of hot takes with sprinkles of actual journalism based on statistics, studies, or personal experiences. Her content is extremely entertaining, but there are bits of educational moments that really draw you in. 

In conclusion, we now know what Amala believes in, what her content consists of, what topics her organization stands for, and her overall personality when it comes to being a host/social media influencer. 

The question that has been lingering on everyone's minds is, is she actually a political pundit? The definition has been provided, so let's match it up! She authoritatively gives political opinions through mass media. So, yes- she is a political pundit.