Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Are satirical news programs to be trusted?
I am an avid fan of "The Colbert Report," "The Daily Show" and the "Weekend Update" segment of Saturday Night Live. Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart are (in my mind) geniuses of comedy, satire, putting an interesting thought on the news and upcoming important books to read. They come up with great new material every day for their respective shows, and have put some funny stuff in each of their books. I also like reading The Onion and Uncyclopedia, which put a funny spin on newspapers and Wikipedia, repectively. Sure, they make us laugh, but can they really deliver the news in a proper manner? They deliver the news, but it's more for laughs than to be taken seriously. They make us think about our world, and that's a good thing. But they aren't a part of the news media, so we shouldn't go to these sources for our news. We should get the news from respective sources first, form our own opinions, and then test our opinions when we watch the programs on TV or look them up online. So let's not fully trust these programs as being 100 percent true, but maybe more as something to help guide our way to what our opinions on the news are or why the side we are against is saying what it is saying and look deeper into the problem to get a firm grasp on the subject.
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7 comments:
Nobody said those shows where on air to strictly tell the truth or deliver the news. The point of shows like "The Colbert Report" and "The Daily Show" are to make people realize the hypocrisy and ridiculousness of things in our society. Anyone who goes to these shows as there only news source does not understand the point of the shows. It is just like someone who only goes to Wikipedia for a research paper. In all situations multiple sources need to be looked at and no source can truly be trusted. That's not say these satirical shows and websites should be ignored since they can be a great source of entertainment.
Thank you, Gabby. These programs are not there to deliver news, so don't take them to seriously in that regard, but rather to poke fun at the media in general, and what the media covers.
When watching these programs you should probably take into consideration the station that is broadcasting them. The Colbert Report and The Daily Show are shown on Comedy Central, because it was their intention to deliver jokes not hard news.
I like your guys' thoughts. I know that Colbert and Stewart aren't broadcasters, they're comedians. It's just the way that the news is presented that makes everyone listen, since the shows are funny. I think what the question really should have been is this: can satirical shows count as journalism? I know that it isn't, but they thoroughly research each story they cover or each guest they bring on the show. They conduct interviews right on the set, so everyone knows EXACTLY what the one being interviewed said. Now Colbert, Stewart and SNL conduct these interviews to be funny, but they still show what the guest has to say on a topic and what shortcomings their argument might have. Basically, what I'm trying to say is these shows are 20% reporting and 80% speaking their opinion or making fun of the news. There's some reporting and it makes us think about the news a little more, but the main reason it's there is for us to laugh at the news.
These shows make fun of current events, which is fine. I think that if you want in-depth analysis of the news to help you form opinions on today's issues, you should watch political commentary shows on channels like CNN.
It's true that Colbert and The Daily Show should not be considered primary sources of news but many people in our age group do. One-fifth of young people regularly get their news from comedy shows such as The Daily Show, according to a Harvard survey. Honestly, watching both of these shows gives me a better perspective on how stupid television news coverage can be. The pressure to be a 24-hour news service really gets to some stations, and they cover the most unnecessary and irrelevant events sometimes.
That being said, vote Colbert for president!
I could not agree anymore with Gabby. :) That's exactly what I think. Also I just have to point out that shows like that are really entertaining. I love them.
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