Why ARE there so many British pundits commenting on US politics on M$NBC?

[HipChick]

One of them is Andrew Lloyd Webber daughter's Imogen Lloyd Webber....more nepotism? Just curious...American commentators commenting on British politics wouldn't fare well on SKY news...

[Bonhomme Richard]

1. Pure marketing. The British accent sells. We are a childish nation. n/t

[CoffeeCat]

10. That is exactly what I believe...

CNBC also has a few commentators and anchors with British accents. I think their test-marketing
and focus groups probably show that Americans feel that someone with a British accent is trustworthy
and intelligent.

I could be wrong--but I think this is a relatively new trend. I've also noticed one of our local
drive-time, right-wing radio blowhards also has a British accents. This is new to me, and so
are the British television personalities.

I bet you anything it's the result of how a British accent tests. When you're catapulting the
propaganda, you have to make sure that it sticks, right?

[themadstork]

2. Why not?

[HipChick]

4. Interesting on how they keep comparing about how things are done back in the UK

since majority of US don't have a clue about British politics..

[Spider Jerusalem]

11. The majority of the US don't really have a clue about AMERICAN politics, let alone British

[flamingdem]

3. Except for the righties they are able to get to realities that Americans

don't see - and articulate this in a way that includes a human touch, not just spin.

[dtexdem]

5. Because too many American "pundits" are really punditz?

just a thought

[jtown1123]

6. What the hell? I noticed this too. Poor Katrin Vanden Heuvel n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. It would seem to be the name in her case

I've never heard of her, and, looking at her biography, she never appeared on British TV as a 'pundit'. She ran a small theatre production company, and it seems Fox News was seduced by her accent - and MSNBC has followed suit.

[Spider Jerusalem]

8. She lives in the US, no?

Which means she's probably about as qualified as anyone else living in the US with the right background and connections to be a political commentator on MSNBC. And you can't compare the media culture of the UK to that of the US anyway; the sort of "political commentary" you get on US cable news networks is quite alien here and would be completely out of place.

[A Simple Game]

9. They're cheap, they work for a dollar a pound. n/t