Geoffrey Baym argues that the nightly news is becoming less authoritative and that journalism as public inquiry is eroding. Less and less people are watching or learning from network news. As an alternative, young people are resorting to late night television and comedy shows such as “Saturday Night Live.” Baym praises the Daily Show for its combination of comedy, entertainment, news, and public affairs. While the host, Jon Stewart, claims he discusses “fake news,” evidence supports that viewers actually learn from this show, as often political figures are interviewed. The Daily Show is both an old kind of comedy and new type of journalism, as it cannot be labeled as “fake” for lack of a legitimate “real” comparison. In a world when media is becoming increasingly consolidated and integrated, The Daily Show can be seen as an alternative form of journalism that uses parody to critique news. An easily accessible, relatively unconstrainable informational environment is created by the “infrastructure” of political communication. While more media outlets are being created, a few media giants such as Viacom consolidate and dominate the industry. Cultural diversity allows the media to adopt blurred borders between editorials and business, and encourages innovation. The Daily Show exemplifies successful integration within media, due to its “hybrid nature.” The show blends nightly news with entertainment; humor with concern, in a complimentary, comic but informative way. The satire news updates illustrate comic news prevalent in other late night talk shows, as well. Stories switch between political references and jokes. The Daily Show is the most significant in terms of humor and political issues, as it often deals with highly concerning national and global issues. Soundbites from primary political actors are provided. The show’s content resembles main stream news media, without having to follow the journalistic rules. It rejects the standard conventions of quote selection and the mainstream media’s insistence on a dispassionate observation that elides the journalist’s subjectivity. While conventional news is monologic, The Daily Show’s news is vibrant with confrontation and dialogue. Satire is used to hold leadership accountable for both words and actions as it demands a measure of accountability. The Daily Show thus challenges mainstream news by approaching information in a critical manor and by utilizing parody news reports, which mock the genre of television news. This suggests that journalists are merely playing a role on TV and criticizes disinterest in fact. Politicians, journalists and commentators are guests on the show, and are again hybrids that combine pop culture and humor with serious underlying concerns through thoughtful, honest and democratic discussions. Political guests benefit from appearing on such shows, as it promotes their cause. Overall, The Daily Show is an experimental form of journalism that threatens mainstream media, and introduces the idea that a television newscast can be not only profitable but also substantive.
This corresponds to Jean Baudrillard’s Simularca and Simulationas because it too deals with hybridity, to an extent. Baudrillard argues that the ”real” and fantasy worlds have combined, providing Americans with a distorted perception of reality. Society often manipulates the media in a way that prohibits people from being able to distinguish between what is genuine and what is recreated or altered. This struggle is referred to as the hyperreal, which contains no origins. The Daily Show has also identified this tainted flow of information and perception as a problem. The show seeks to counteract the issue by providing open, honest discussions as opposed to discussions involving pre-planned questions and answers. Therefore, both authors call for the need to evaluate the legitimacy of what people see and hear, as things are often not as they are portrayed in the media. The video I chose interviews Jason Jones and Tim Greenberg from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on their trip to Iran. The video illustrates the combination of comedy and political content that makes the show so popular and significant. The men traveled to Iran to deny stereotypes about Iranians. They spend time with a family who they claim is very similar to any family in the U.S., with the same culture and everything. They also claim that their people are not very different from ours by poking fun of insignificant cultural differences, such as the bathrooms in Iran and the constant tea drinking. Other comic elements, such as when a little girl is handed a box of Marlboros, is purely for comic relief. Throughout the interview, an open and honest but nonetheless entertaining discussion is held.
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