Satire has long been part of discourse, with
written records going back to the Ramesside Period of Ancient Egypt, and two primary classifications of satire
originate with the Roman satirists Horace and Juvenal. Other notable
historic figures have also been authors of significant satire, but
not always with much appreciation.
News satire furthers the awkward stance with public, as
the public may read satire as an outrageous truth, and be angered instead of amused. The Daily Show, and Jon Stewart in specific, ranks well in
the fractured world of current news programming, and the show was noted in the New York Times as "
a genuine cultural and political force"
(previously), but you don't have take their word for it.
Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism studied the content of The Daily Show for an entire year (2007), providing interesting (if slightly dated) details on the show. That year included their
much-viewed coverage fo the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. And in
poll results published July 24, 2009,
Jon Stewart was voted America's most trusted newscaster, apparently filling the position
previously held by Walter Cronkite. But is it because Stewart is
one of the few journalists willing to ask the hard questions or
has America been won over by "cheap laughs"?
posted by filthy light thief
on Nov 6, 2009 -
54 comments
"The Daily Show is no doubt entertainment, but it is entertainment, measurably, with a substantive point. It is, in its own way, another kind of No Spin Zone." The Project for Excellence in Journalism discusses
what is and is not journalistic (PDF) about
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
posted by Blazecock Pileon
on May 8, 2008 -
122 comments
I'm done with The Onion. I trusted The Onion and read their comedy for free for
years -- but after hundreds of issues of unbelievable comedy The Onion is now a "pay site" that charges
$30 a year for earlier access to each week's issue, plus awesome-sounding online news radio and special election coverage! I'm mad! Oh yeah!!!
posted by josh
on May 19, 2004 -
39 comments
The UCSD administration was recently defeated by
The Koala, a student satire publication that it attempted to shut down. Said an administrator: "We condemn the Koala's abuse of the constitutional guarantees of free expression and disfavor their unconscionable behavior."
The paper's staffers have now
sold their blood plasma to raise money for a lawyer to file a countersuit against the administration. Good to see that free speech is alive and well on college campuses, this school's administration to the contrary. And its always good to see an active
college humor magazine.
posted by gsteff
on Jul 1, 2002 -
6 comments
