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Daily Show Is Serious About Media Criticism
With Joe Biden Tuesday, Lou Dobbs last night, and Hannity caught faking the news last week*, The Daily Show continues on it’s long hot roll. Here’s a Poytner look inside the most effective media criticism shop in America:
“I feel like there are lot of critics of the government but there are very few critics of the media who have an audience and are credible and keep a watch on things,” said “Daily Show” writer Elliott Kalan. “That’s a role that we provide that we take very seriously.”
Kalan said the biggest mistakes he sees the mainstream media make involve overreaction and early reaction to the news. On television especially, he said, everything is “a scoop” or “breaking news” even when it’s not. He noted that presenting the coverage in such a way leads networks to give news a level of speed and intensity that can sometimes get in the way of facts. [...]
One of the show’s rules is to not trust any source too much until it’s been confirmed by another source. The show’s 11 writers and eight producers — who range in age from their early 20s to mid 40s and four of whom are women — say they often check The New York Times and other newspapers to verify the facts and figures they hear on TV or read about on blogs. They also have a researcher and fact-checker, Adam Chodikoff, who makes sure any information that’s used has been verified by multiple sources.
“We work very hard to make sure that we don’t take anything out of context,” King explained, “just because we like to think at the end of the day that what we’re doing is right and correct, but also because while the networks don’t respond to us all that much, people attack us and criticize us and we don’t want to give them ammunition than they need.”
Read on. Good stuff. A sample of some Stewart fun…
* Here’s Hannity’s faux apology. Joe noted earlier another, similar, Fox faus pax this week. Some of the fun in the clip above, btw, highlights a similar error by MSNBC.
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7 Responses to “Daily Show Is Serious About Media Criticism”
It is sad that we require comedians to keep our news media honest. I personally trust The Daily Show over any cable news network.
It always helps when you only have to fill about 12 minutes of the day with something related to news as well.
Another very good media critic show is On the Media played on NPR. They'll take down interviewees liberal or conservative. I recommend it quite a bit. One of their more recent bits, for example, was about irresponsible health coverage on the morning talk shows: basically, every day the shows report some new miracle cure that will take away all our problems, ignoring the risks or preliminary status.
NPR has another show called “Counterspin”, but that's not really a media critique. It's kind of like a Media Matters or something where they give all the stories missed or mis-reported from a progressive point of view.
As I wrote a few days ago:
Though the Daily Show is comedy (as in it makes you laugh) it is also a serious commentary and chronicler of our times.
Pacatrue, I've been too busy to get to a post that will include that On The Media story you cite. I second and endorse your admiration of the work done on that show. I never miss it.
“On television especially, he said, everything is “a scoop” or “breaking news” even when it’s not. He noted that presenting the coverage in such a way leads networks to give news a level of speed and intensity that can sometimes get in the way of facts.”
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Yes, CNN and Fox have become drooling tabloid idiots. Their shows more like a circus than informative outlets; where tricks of the eye and sleight of hand weigh far heavier than those boring old facts, the details of complex affairs that get in the way of glamour and gawker-ratings.
I think I would reach for the National Enquirer before I'd watch CNN or Fox.
posted in error, comment removed by stevek
yah ,………….. i agree with u………. and i m totally saticfied you……… is th daily show is realy very serius about media……
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=2…
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=2…