In the Baym piece about "The Daily Show," the author points out how the show juxtaposes comedy and news reporting in a fresh way. It is the combination of these two seemingly incompatible aspects that makes the show successful. I was reminded of our class discussion the other day; we talked about appropriation andre-appropriation. It seems like "The Daily Show" is doing something similar to the sub-cultures we discussed, appropriating signifiers that don't fit its "class." We said that HipHop is associated with Escalades and Bentleys, also, diamonds, gold, and especially platinum. We also deconstructed Punk; Dock Martins, ripped jeans, clothes held together with safety pins. Both subcultures appropriated signifiers not associated with the class of the people who established the music around which the styles evolved. Just like Hip Hop and Punk, "The Daily Show" is appropriating signifiers of comedy shows as a means of forging a new identity and rebelling. On the surface, the show seems like it is purely comedy, but as the article pointed out, the news content really does a good job of relaying pertinent and critical information to its audience.
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