Earlier
this week, in my Media and Democracy class (Comm 110) we analyzed the roles of comics
like Jon Stewart and Stephan Colbert in the media. The role of comedians like Jon Stewart in the
media is to
lead people to think again about the type and quality of information they are
being given, by whom, and for what purposes.
These comics in turn provide outlets to deliver news information by
exposing the absurdities in the media and government.
Jon
Stewart incorporates rhetorical devices constantly to appeal to the American
public in a comical manner. Yesterday
were the Michigan and Arizona Primaries.
In this episode from February 29, 2012, Stewart analyzes clips from the
24 hour major news networks: Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. Jon Stewart’s intentions are to poke fun into
the candidates’ speeches and the behind the scenes work of the major news
networks. One of the particular clips he
makes fun of is Rick Santorum’s speech.
Santorum continually uses the phrase “from the bottom up” to help his
claims in subtle manner. Stewart makes
fun of how ridiculous Santorum sounds to the American public. Stewart effectively communicates to his
audience through his satirical roasts of government and its major media outlets. The true question is this a form of comedy or
can this be a considered a substitute for the news in a satirical fashion? This question cannot be answered by a simple
yes or no response. All news will have a
political bias. These comedic shows just
essentially help viewers to see and make sense of politics and the media. So the next time you watch a comedic talk show
like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, I implore you to look at the exigence. Why are they speaking and what are the motives
behind their arguments?
The best part of Jon Stewart is how he directly makes fun of how rediculous the media and political culture are in today's world. The best part of Colbert, and what makes his show better than Stewart's, is how it is able to use satire to point out how ridiculous the above mentioned institutions are. It's easy to make a comeback when someone is criticizing you directly, it's much harder when they are using the tactics that you use to make fun of you.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that I love about John Stewart is his ability to analyze things that the general public would never have been able to notice...like Santorum's phrase: "from the bottom up." However, I do not know if this is always a good thing because by criticizing his campaign, for a really non important reason, Stewart is creating bias.
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