Writer's Block: Comedians as Journalists

[preussisch_blau]

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Neither, because I'm not stupid enough to think that fake news is actually a good source of information about current events and politics. IT'S COMEDY, FFS. If you don't trust the media, then watch a bunch of different news channels (I recommend putting Fox in your repetoire, so long as you avoid the wingnut known as Bill O'Reilly). Also, go online and read, and read the freaking newspaper. Listen to the radio too if you want.

Nothing is ever going to be as fair and balanced as you think it ought to be, because different people have different ideas as to what that entails. However, totally ignoring the fact that a comedy show is just that, COMEDY, isn't going to get you trustworthy news. It just makes you an idiot. (For the record, I don't watch either The Daily Show or The Colbert Report with any sense of regularity, but I'm pretty sure that it's been brought up that the shows are not meant to be taken seriously.)

Comments

[vaslittlecrow.livejournal.com]

Excellent answer.

[skew-whiff.livejournal.com]

Lordy, the place is in a bad way if people take satire as their main news source. I love political comedy* but damn, it's not as if there's a dearth of news sources. Heck, even if you dislike overt partisan news sources, there's places you can look - the BBC isn't allowed to have a bias, for example, and has an extremely comprehensive online news site.

* I love Stephen Colbert's work as a voiceover artist, especially on Harvey Birdman, but I reckon the Daily Show and the Colbert Report are hideously overrated. I've watched a few clips and it's rare that it raises more than a vague smirk.
There's some brilliant British topical comedy shows, mind you. New series of Have I Got News For You starts tonight, yay. I'd never take any of the many ones I watch/listen to as my main news source, though. That's just silly.

[alouette-sparra.livejournal.com]

Honestly, most news sources are not that partisan in and of themselves. It's the specific, big name people who are partisan (at least in this country) because they can AFFORD to be. Jane Smith or John Brown reporting at your local news station could get fired for being partisan if enough viewers call and complain. Heck, just about anyone who isn't a nationwide household name could be fired if there are enough complaints.

Really, if you just avoid the wingnuts like Bill O'Reilly and... okay... I don't watch enough CNN or CBS because I can't name an equivalent liberal wingnut reporter, but they are out there, and realise that people like Michael Savage are mostly exaggerating for effect, the news is not THAT biased. Especially once you leave the realm of politics.

I imagine it has something to do with culture. The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are specific parodies of the most extreme ends of the American belief spectrum. If it's something you live in day in and day out, I imagine it's much funnier than it would be if you're an outsider.

I just say this from personal experience, as I've tried watching Canadian and British comedic news, and I really just can't get into them. I sometimes chuckle, but mostly, I just don't have the cultural frame of reference to find them hilarious.

However, the rest of British comedy is more than welcome to stay. American comedy is just too over-done, repetitive, and generally offensive, for the most part.

[skew-whiff.livejournal.com]

I only know about it filtered through the reports of others - I've never sat and watched American news channels, though I believe I could get some available if I had satellite or cable. The impression I've always had of it is that a lot of it is rabidly right-wing, but I'm sure that's an exaggeration.
Still, we don't have these big name partisan news reporters. We have famous TV newsreaders and journalists, but they aren't allowed to express their own views. The BBC was actually the subject of a government investigation because they felt their reporting of the run-up to the Iraq war wasn't impartial enough.


And yeah, I think the funniness of topical comedy depends hugely on being familiar with the topics actually being discussed. I can remember watching an Australian topical comedy show, for example, and thinking "I imagine this would be vastly more amusing if I knew who the fuck this Kerry Packer guy was." It's all context-dependent.
As for comedy in general, I do vastly prefer British comedy, but there's plenty of US series I enjoy. Less of them are laugh-out-loud hilarious, and there's distinct differences, but it's not all horrendous. What US TV really does best, though, is big-budget drama. You totally have us beat there.

[alouette-sparra.livejournal.com]

Heh. It's actually very rabidly left-wing, with the exception of Fox News. Although, I don't really have any first hand knowledge of British culture, so it may be that our rabid left-wing is actually fairly moderate for England. I don't know.

Dude, we're America. We know drama. I mean, we're the people who dumped tea into a harbour to protest taxes. Now that's drama. ;)

[rightsaidred.livejournal.com]

Depends where you are. In an area that heavily leans to one end of the political spectrum, news sources can give in to that bias without penalty. I should know, I live in Minneapolis. The papers and news channels are quite biased here.

[alouette-sparra.livejournal.com]

Okay, well, mea culpa. I've never lived in a big city. Small town girl. Who has also always managed to live in a highly Republican area of a state that always goes to the Democrats.

Although I'm really hoping Delaware turns things around this year. We were 45% for Bush in the last election, and just going by the number of McCain/Palin signs I've seen, I really think the southern two counties could push us into the red. I also have high hopes for Pittsburgh not liking that "western Pennsylvanians are all racists" comment, although those are REALLY high hopes. Okay, end tangent.

Also, fancy seeing you here, icon twin.

[stormbringer986.livejournal.com]

Amen to all of that. I think it's absolutely ridiculous when someone says "Oh, the only news I watch is the Daily Show."
It might be amusing once in a while, but it certainly isn't reliable news.
I've gotten some pretty disgusted looks from people (friends included) when I mention the fact I read the newspaper or online news sites. Unlike them, however, I have at least some idea of what's going on in the world. It was sad when one of them said "...You mean the state?" when I asked if they knew what was up between Georgia and Russia earlier this year.

[alouette-sparra.livejournal.com]

I'd like to refuse to believe that anyone is so stupid to think you meant the state of Georgia... but, I know people like that around where I live. It's very depressing.

[stormbringer986.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I used to refuse to believe people could be so incredibly stupid too. Then I started my French Revolution class, and met one of the stupidest people on earth. Now, I won't put any level of stupidity past people.

To be fair, I didn't know a country named Georgia existed for a long time. Then I read it in a history book or heard it on the news. But even without that, I wouldn't have been stupid enough to think that Russians had invaded the state. Unless they're particularly fond of peaches, fireworks,boiled peanuts, or "Gentlemen's clubs" I don't think Georgia the state has much to offer an invading army.

[alouette-sparra.livejournal.com]

9th grade history, we were required to know most of the world's countries. :P Only reason I know about Georgia.

[stormbringer986.livejournal.com]

If I had to guess, I'd probably say 9th grade geography is where I learned about it. That class was nuts, but awesome.

[gigglestheblood.livejournal.com]

I think it's silly to dismiss TDS and TCR as good news sources because they're comedy shows. I also think it's silly for someone to use them as their only news source, because the shows are really more about commentary on the ridiculousness that is politics and the media, and they only cover a few current events because of the amount of time they have. And, the humor is better understood if you actually know what's going on in the world before you watch an episode. But yeah, just because they're made to make you laugh doesn't mean they don't inform you of anything.

I don't know, the way you said, they're just COMEDY, seemed really dismissive. They're not supposed to be taken seriously, but it's not like they're just on the air shoving pies in eachother's faces and running around to Benny Hill music. It's intelligent comedy that can help people make better sense of current events.

[alouette-sparra.livejournal.com]

If they were just "shoving pies in eachother's faces and running around to Benny Hill music", I wouldn't watch either because that's not funny. That's inane.

Allow me to spell things out that I thought were plainly implied. As I read the question, it was assuming that I distrust the media and only trust comedic news sources. (I actually know people in real life who get all their news from both shows BECAUSE they only trust comedic news sources, so you see where this line of thought comes from.)

My answer was framed around the point that, while I enjoy both shows and find them funny, I do not think they are credible news sources. Yes, it gives you some intelligent and humourous insight about politics, the media, and current events. I'm not disagreeing with that. However, it's utterly silly to consider what's meant to be a parody of the news as somehow more trustworthy than regular news, and use it to form your opinions instead of reading a lot of different sources, forming your opinions, and then turning on TDS or TCR to have a good laugh because you know what's going on and why *insert topic here* is funny.

[twilight-spiral.livejournal.com]

Agreed! It's horrifying that people think Colbert and Stewart are news. On top of my poli sci, degree I've working on one in Englsih/Mass Comm. It physically hurts me to think about what American media has become.

Personally, I'd advise avoiding any broadcast news, especially CNN, Fox News, and so forth. Generally speaking news today is highly personalized and dramatized resulting in fragmentation leading to shallow understanding about world, national, or local events. Broadcast news though does far more than newspapers or online media.

I'd agree everyone should do online. Americans, especially should check out foreign news sources. Now that is some damn good journalism. And don't just got to places that share you ideological views, either. Go everywhere. When I have time, I hit up AlJezeera (that's not the right spelling).