Truthiness In Journalism
In 1991-92, a paradigm shift in television journalism occurred and suddenly the world was talking about CNN. The manner in which they reported the Persian Gulf War caught the eye of just about everyone and cable news dominance was born.
A few years later, a second change occurred, though not necessarily a positive one. A relative newcomer to cable news, Fox News promoted itself as fair and balanced, but proved itself to be more of a 24 hour Rush Limbaugh show. That said, people listened. When Bill Clinton had his Monica-gate, the country went to Fox News to find out what their opinion should be.
This had been the state of American televison news for some time now.
Until recently.
The third shift has come in the last year or so in the form of yet a new network. That's right, the best name in television journalism now is Comedy Central.
The shift began when our hero, Jon Stewart, was invited to go on to Crossfire. Crossfire is CNN's answer to Hannity and Colmes, a show where one Republican pundit and one Democrat pundit argue over issues of the day. Nothing is gained from these debates, until Jon Stewart of The Daily Show called them out. It was one of the best verbal Scalia-isms I'd ever heard. When challenged about his political comments and views, Stewart reminded them his show was preceded by a cartoon, not a news show. He begged them to stop hurting America. It was terrific.
As if that wasn't enough, his partner in crime took it one step further. Stephen Colbert, whose show -- The Colbert Report -- is a satire on opinion shows like O'Reilly Factor, was invited as the guest entertainer at last week's White House Correspondent's Association Dinner. What happened next may have been the best comedy since Abbott and Costello's Who's on First and the best political humor since Thomas Nast cartoons. Here are some quotes:
"I stand by this man (President Bush). I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound -- with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
"I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument. I call it the 'No Fact Zone'. Fox News, I hold a copyright on that term."
"I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq."
"It's like boxing a glacier. Enjoy that metaphor, by the way, because your grandchildren will have no idea what a glacier is."
"The greatest thing about this man (President Bush) is he's steady. You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday -- no matter what happened Tuesday."
News today. The best way to get it is through satire.
A few years later, a second change occurred, though not necessarily a positive one. A relative newcomer to cable news, Fox News promoted itself as fair and balanced, but proved itself to be more of a 24 hour Rush Limbaugh show. That said, people listened. When Bill Clinton had his Monica-gate, the country went to Fox News to find out what their opinion should be.
This had been the state of American televison news for some time now.
Until recently.
The third shift has come in the last year or so in the form of yet a new network. That's right, the best name in television journalism now is Comedy Central.
The shift began when our hero, Jon Stewart, was invited to go on to Crossfire. Crossfire is CNN's answer to Hannity and Colmes, a show where one Republican pundit and one Democrat pundit argue over issues of the day. Nothing is gained from these debates, until Jon Stewart of The Daily Show called them out. It was one of the best verbal Scalia-isms I'd ever heard. When challenged about his political comments and views, Stewart reminded them his show was preceded by a cartoon, not a news show. He begged them to stop hurting America. It was terrific.
As if that wasn't enough, his partner in crime took it one step further. Stephen Colbert, whose show -- The Colbert Report -- is a satire on opinion shows like O'Reilly Factor, was invited as the guest entertainer at last week's White House Correspondent's Association Dinner. What happened next may have been the best comedy since Abbott and Costello's Who's on First and the best political humor since Thomas Nast cartoons. Here are some quotes:
"I stand by this man (President Bush). I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound -- with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
"I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument. I call it the 'No Fact Zone'. Fox News, I hold a copyright on that term."
"I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq."
"It's like boxing a glacier. Enjoy that metaphor, by the way, because your grandchildren will have no idea what a glacier is."
"The greatest thing about this man (President Bush) is he's steady. You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday -- no matter what happened Tuesday."
News today. The best way to get it is through satire.
posted by E-Luv at 9:03 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home