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.

Are we in a period of horrible news coverage?

I was looking at CNN.com just now, and I can't believe what I'm seeing. Here are some examples of the stories that they have on there:
"Look out! Driver crashes into bank."
"'Like I was on rollerblades,' says Miss USA."
Here are some examples of what's being featured on CNN Video:
"Volcano spews smoke, lava"
"Man Lives in Tiny House"
"360 Shot: Beauty Queens Fall"
Yes, CNN should have some weird stories on there and yes, it is impossible to constantly show serious news on its 24-hour news channel. But when is it enough? I would only like one, maybe two weird or funny stories or those I don't care about once, maybe twice an hour on the 24-hour news channel. But the news channel is becoming less of a news channel and more of an entertainment channel.
Glenn Beck, Nancy Grace and Showbiz Tonight each getting two to three hours a night?
What about Larry King interviewing celebrities now? He used to interview important or in-the-news people. Now, he's paying Paris Hilton $1 million for an interview! What has the media world come to?

When does satire become inappropriate?

The New Yorker's cover illustration in its most recent issue has attracted commentary and criticism because of its depiction of Sen. Barack Obama dressed as a Muslim, "fist-bumping his gun-toting wife." (The Washington Post, "It's Funny How Humor Is So Ticklish"). It sparks an interesting debate--whether the image is just playful satire or whether it will have an effect the liberal publication certainly doesn't want, a reason for voters to doubt Obama. Conservative talk-show hosts like Sean Hannity have started using the cover as confirmation that Obama is a terrorist, "the candidate of Hamas." Though Hannity and other right-wing organizations would certainly have continued their smear campaigns based on race regardless of the publication, the controversial depiction raises serious questions of taste and editorial responsibility.

See the Washington Post article.
See the cover image.

Welcome!

Class, this site will be used throughout this summer journalism course to post ideas, questions and comments about the media, but also to publish assignments from class.

I'll expect each of you to start at least one thread of discussion pertaining to the media during the next three weeks.

Remember that the world can see this site, but only the class can comment to it.

Please use professional standards and courtesies in your comments: No personal attacks on people, please. No hate comments or profanity. And try to follow rules of grammar and style.

Also: Please remember that your mini profiles don't belong in this post creation area; they should be published as profiles (on the right sidebar).

Looking forward to an interesting class!