Introduction
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is a satirical news show that first aired on Comedy Central January 11, 1999, and since then, has become one of the most influential sources for news for young Americans. Through the satirical news format, it grabbed the attention of coveted 18-34 age demographic that traditional nightly news shows have tried to attract (Heflin, 2006). Even though Stewart does not see himself as an influence, studies show most young adults get their news from his show and are able to understand complex political issues (Morris, 2006). Due to this, The Daily Show changed the format of how young Americans consume their news, not only should it be informative, but it should have entertainment value. Due to the large following, The Daily Show is seen to have great power over the young adults.
Creators and Producers
The Daily Show first aired on July 22, 1996 with host Craig Kilborn. Madeleine Smithberg and Lizz Winsteadby created the show. Winsteadby originally wanted to create a news focused show, but Comedy Central executives believed it would not attract viewers, so the show heavily focused on human interest pieces and popular culture. Kilborn left The Daily Show in 1998 due to conflict with the creators and was replaced a month later by Jon Stewart (McConville, 1999). When Stewart took over as host, he revamped the format to have the focus to be more issue and politically driven topics that had a satirical edge as originally desired by the creators (Faina, 2013). Stewart structured it as a nightly news show, with him as a traditional news anchor talking about relevant news stories with the help of his corespondents, affectionately named, “The Best F#@king News Team Ever” (Feldsman, 2007).
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...0). Traditional newscasts are not only dumbing down and sensationalizing the news to bring more interest into their programming, but this can be detrimental to the political process. The Daily Show is uses comedy to show the ridiculousness of the political world and news media for his viewers to take politics seriously (Hariman, 2007). The Daily Show has been awarded with prestigious awards, such as two Peabody Awards, 18 Primetime Emmys, a Television Critics Association Award, and also a Grammy Award. (Feldman, 2007). It can be said, entertainment based shows can have the potential to not only educate, but entertaining as well. Today’s generation have grown up in a world where the distinction between of entertainment and news shows have been obscured, The Daily Show has proven the televisions shows can provide the public with entertaining political information.
In “Everybody Hates Chris,” Rochelle and Julius are having an issue. Rochelle is going through the mail when she comes across divorce papers from another woman. She asks her husband, Julius, if he is already married with hostility. Rochelle jumps to many conclusions, accusing Julius while he is trying to speak. Julius is able to tell Rochelle the truth but she goes on with assumptions. It is quite obvious she has relational uncertainty at this point. She begins to ask her husband unnecessary questions, proving she has jealousy and possessiveness over her husband after receiving the divorce papers in the mail from another woman.
On the contrary of the newscasts offered by CBS and NBC, a cable news program called “The Colbert Report” not only shows bias to other aired news, but makes satire news about them. Unlike the other cable news programs (like FOX or CNN, and the like), “The Colbert Report” is one of the programs that is on Comedy Central that shows a different (but a parody) approach version of conservative political pundits; the other is “The Daily Show with John Stewart”.
Popular culture also plays a role in why Americans do not trust politicians. Late-night television shows use politicians in their comedy skits, where their mistakes are punch lines for comedians. A study produced by Jody Baumgartner and Jonathan Morris found that people who view late-night television shows have a more negative view of candidates, (Medvic p. 5). In particular, people who view The Daily Show have drastically less faith in the electoral process, (Medvic p. 5). Russell Peterson argues that these jokes as “implicitly anti-democratic” because they declare the entire system as fraudulent, (Medvic p. 5).
Would you lose your journalistic integrity over one million dollars just to increase your audience base? For me personally I would decline the money and not subject my audience to an unwanted change for personal gain. Neil Postman’s book, “Amusing Ourselves to Death”, argues that television is all about entertainment and nothing else. Postman makes several points in his book pertaining to televised news as examples. On the evening of January 31 2018, I decided to test Postman’s arguments by tuning into the PBS NewsHour. After putting Postman’s arguments to the test I soon found that they were correct; “if it bleeds it leads”, news anchors are just actors, stories of little value get little air time, and there is an overwhelming disconnect between stories.
Both CNN and Fox News influence these immense populations with how each utilize pathos, ethos and logos in the topics discussed during the broadcasted show. For example, Fox News 's audience seems to be primarily conservative, while CNN’s audience seem to be more liberal (Engel). So each network’s stories “focus on the issues that” conservatives or liberals “want to watch and talk about” (James). These topics are used to develop a more conservative or liberal fan base in the respective news networks. As the dominant news network on cable television, Fox News impacts the greatest quantity of citizens, bringing in an audience of over two million for primetime (James). Therefore, Fox News influences the largest percentage of Americans listening to news networks by effectively using these manipulative literary techniques. However, CNN has a younger audience than Fox News (Carter), which contributes to CNN’s audience growing from 350,000 a night, in 2013 (Agee), to 629,000 viewers a night (James). CNN and Fox News compete with each other to influence the greatest amount of people and the public’s opinion of current events. Each network appeals to pathos, logos and ethos differently and similarly to coax the greatest amount of listeners each night.
Politicians are almost always an easy target when it comes to skits and jokes. Saturday Night Live has been imitating these public figures for forever, and they have remained popular throughout the years. Not only is the fact that these actors and actresses can sound and imitate the politician perfectly, but the fact that they can make the politicians points and arguments sound so ridiculous. In the Epic Rap Battle between Mitt Romney and Barak Obama, their characteristics are exaggerated upon, and their main points of their campaigns are torn to shreds. With the rhetoric situation being the 2012 presidential campaign, the argument in the clip is that both candidates have lots of promises for the country, but neither of them are fit for the
If T.V. news or radio have morphed into reality shows, then it is only a reflection of the viewers. As a former news reporter, the author should understand that the success
Comedian Jon Stewart gives a speech on the Daily Show during the “Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear”. He wants the viewers of the Daily Show to realize the difference between the real and fake threats and to take a humorous perspective on most of America’s “problems”. Stewart also emphasizes to his audience not to take every person on the media by his word and not to overreact to everything they hear. He uses metaphors, comparisons, and hypothetical examples to get his point across.
Family guy, the successful animated cartoon series brings entertainment weekly to worldwide audiences of up to 22 million. The sitcom, created by the talented Seth McFarlane was originally designed to target specifically the American audience, but later due to popularity now broadcasts it’s hilariously ridiculing jokes all over the world. Through the loveable characters of the series, Seth is able to recreate the pressing issues of today’s society into sarcastic and biased situations, in which the flaws of the opposing views are brought to light and mocked in a way suited for mature audiences. This spoken essay will directly analyse the language used in the sitcom series, to give an understanding behind the script of Family guy and how the writer’s techniques effectively present pressing issues in a lighter and more humorous manner for the target audience. Peter Griffin, protagonist, is the star of the show and father to 2 dysfunctional teens, a cynical and slightly homosexual toddler, and a humanistic talking dog. Although Peter is labelled as the father and protector of the family,...
So called “opinion journalism” has become a growing issue in today’s media. The concern is that the news channels are not always reporting facts to their viewers, but often times fact less opinions. In his article “The Truth about TV News”, Westin makes a highly effective argument as to how news channels are reporting opinions rather than cold, hard facts. His persuading argument lists supporting and personal experience. The experience comes from Westin’s time as ABC president has given him a valuable insight into both the industry of reporting and how opinion journalism has become a growing issue. Westin uses his knowledge to support his claim: opinion journalism is bad and needs to be put to rest as fast as possible.
When daytime talk show programs first appeared on television in the 1950s, they mostly consisted of celebrities gathered around a coffee table discussing secrets about trivial things, such as how to make the best sponge cake. It is unlikely that these shows promoted positive changes in the lives of their viewers in any substantial way. In the early 1970s, Phil Donahue introduced a new variety of talk show. His show was characterized as "an exercise in sociopolitical discourse," but was, in actuality, more successful for its coverage of titillating issues than important ones (Moorti sc 2-3).
Everybody watches television. Whether it is sports, news, or cartoons, everybody watches television. Television is part of the American lifestyle. One of the most popular late night television programs is Saturday Night Live, or SNL, on NBC. Saturday Night Live is every Saturday at 11:30 pm. The program started in 1975. With 39 seasons, it is still running today. The show is, “One of the longest running programs in television,” (“Saturday Night Live (SNL)”). Even today, the show always starts with its familiar catch phrase, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” The program is 93 minutes long and includes skits, musical performances from well-known as well as up and coming stars, and humorous, but informative, news updates. Saturday Night Live has revolutionized American television because of the success of the actors/actresses and comedians after their time on the show, how the show changed the viewers perception of television as being uninteresting, how the show saw struggles but continued to persevere to become successful, and because of the slight changes the show made in order to become successful, but still remained close to the original idea of the program.
Satirical humor expresses sarcasm on public changes in politics: celebrations, religion, theater, and television. For example, “Stephen Colbert, a famous comedian, expressed his persona for his opening monologue to support the military troops for the Iraq War in 2009 (Almond 248).” His satirical humor reveals the authoritarian mindset of the United States, bringing freedom to fight back against political situations such as war or terrorist attacks. The satirical humor causes people to think more critically about their beliefs and the seriousness of what the politicians have done. It can encourage greater participation and communication to the people in the community. It also can interact with the public and draw the issues out concerning politics. Although we discussed satirical humor example from James Colbert, the famous comedian, The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon is another tv show that expresses satirical humor concerning
Family Guy is an adult animated sitcom that revolves around the shenanigans of Peter Griffin and friends. The sitcom draws humor from its caricature of American Society, and when it comes lampooning issues, it leaves no stone unturned: from race and gender to religion and politics -- Family Guy makes for satire writ large. Not surprisingly, Family Guy has been criticized for its political incorrectness. Nevertheless, the unabashed sitcom had been nominated for many awards -- most prominent among them, the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.
The Daily Show pronounces itself as a fake news program, and it pulls its comedy and satire from current news reports, politicians, media companies, and often, features of the show itself. The show usually begins with an extended monologue from host, Jon Stewart, communicating new headlines and regularly includes discussions with several correspondents, who assume ridiculous or amusingly overstated takes on recent events against Stewart's straightforward character. The concluding segment contains a celebrity interview, with guests varying from authors and political figures to actors and musicians. Critics contend the show is a major source for news for the 18 to 34 year-old age group because of their satire and sharp-witted lampoon of politics. Essentially, The Daily Show merges parts of both traditional news shows and late night variety programs. The show employs irony, embellishment, and fake news to criticize important current events or political issues.