On the other hand, I can’t say that I ever viewed The Daily Show as much more than just entertainment. I’d heard enough of the worried, condescending reports that young people (aka me) were using The Daily Show as a primary source of news. (Oh my!) I liked to think that was discerning enough to know the difference between legitimate news sources and a comedy show. But... something made me pause when I was watching the other night . I was watching the episode from the 19th. This clip in particular caught my eye:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | M - Th 11p / 10c | |||
| The Notorious AIG - Scorn in the USA | ||||
| ||||
The AIG bailout is heavy stuff; in many ways it represents the deep sense of public frustration over the state of the economy. What really caught my attention, though, was that way The Daily Show treated the bailout was indeed a kind of coverage. It was funny, of course. I laughed out loud at the angry mob running across the screen (freedom!). But I was fascinated by how the big players in the story were represented: the House Financial Services Committee, Edward Liddy, Chris Dodd. They all appeared to be engaged in the dance of wishing to cast blame and avoid responsibility at the same time. I was struck at how the show also invoked the sense of public rage over the bonuses (think back to the angry mob).
It occurred to me that the writers of The Daily Show, along with Jon Stewart, were using humor to frame these events in a new way, one that highlights aspects of the story that traditional news can’t (at least, certainly not in that fashion). Take, for example, this New York Times story on the same topic. The story reports "the facts," and strives for balanced, informative writing. No less than one would expect from our "newspaper of record." The story covers the same information, yet we get a very different picture.
Obviously, The Times as an official news source is obligated to meet certain standards that The Daily Show is not. The Times is also out to serve a very different purpose than that of The Daily Show. However, I still can't help but think that the writers of The Daily Show are making a point about the financial crisis that goes beyond mere entertainment. I'm not sure that I would go so far as to call The Daily Show another form of journalism, but something is up here and I want to give it a closer look.
Thoughts anyone? If you watch the show, are there any segments that have made you think that The Daily Show was crossing the line from entertainment over into another realm? Or do you think I'm taking this too far?
More to come. Stay tuned.
