Black women pundits and the possibilities of critical discord

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.