Jon Stewart's Influence

I am a huge fan of the Daily Show. I'll watch the show even if it's just a typical unhyped episode.
That said whenever there is a new Jon Stewart interview with either right-wing politicians, or political commentators, I will sit myself down and watch the entire thing, most likely more than once. There aren't as many of these instances are I would like, because with each one I watch I find myself more and more engaged in the rhetoric with which Jon openly criticizes and debates his opponents. I have 2 examples below, neither actually taking place on his show. The first is a famous appearance Jon made on CNN's crossfire, that was cancelled in response to his epic beat down of the pundits and the show's premise. The second is an interview from the 2004 election time period in which Bill O'Reilly questions the legitimacy of the Daily Show as a news operation. While reading Geoffrey Baym's essay on the show I instantly recognized all of his point on the significance of the show as a critical media satirical news show. No matter who Jon is speaking to, or debating, or arguing with he constantly hides behind the "fake" news banner. Which as a viewer I understand, because it is true, but also feel doesn't give the show enough credit.

Political Figures and "Fake" News

In Geoffrey Baym's essay, he forges a connection between young people getting their news from "late-night talk shows such as NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno and CBS's Late Show with David Letterman" (Baym, 260) and also Saturday Night Live. He further proves this connection by pointing out John Edwards chose to announce his candidacy for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination on The Daily Show. The clip I attached below is an excerpt from Barack Obama's appearance on The Daily Show in which he addresses current political issues such as the healthcare reforms. This relates to Baym's essay because political figures are trying to reach out to a younger demographic through appearing on media outlets that appeal to this younger audience.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Barack Obama Pt. 3
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor The Daily Show on Facebook

"Fake News" shows

The article by Geoffrey Baym focused on the comedic “fake news” show, The Daily Show with John Stewart. Although the article discussed many aspects of the show and it’s relation to political journalism, one point in particular really stood out to me. In the first pages Baym gave statistics illustrating audiences of real news shows vs. audiences of comedy news shows. The figures supported the idea that more people watch shows like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Late Show with David Lettermen. It then went on to discuss The Daily show in more detail. I find myself to fit in among these statistics. I am semi ashamed to say that I tune to SNL, Leno, and lettermen more then I tune into the major news stations. My reasoning was not really mentioned in the article though. I do this simply because of entertainment. Sometimes I feel as if real news shows don’t really teach me anything I don’t already know of. Either that or it’s hard to voluntarily watch something boring in the hopes that something of value might be mentioned. So I choose to watch shows I find enjoyable and slightly informative. Sure these might be “Fake News” shows, but I find the content to usually relate to important issues of the time. I have attached a link to a video of clips of Amy Poehler in SNL’s Weekend Update. Weekend Update is real “Fake News” created for comedy, though there is sometimes a bit of truth to the stories. I feel like it is a lighthearted clip that relates to this readings message. There is a link because the Embedding was disabled. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cJ2cfTEkT0

Is it News or "News?"

Geoffry Baym discusses in his article “The Daily Show: Discursive Integration and the Reinvention of Political Journalism," the modes of discourse presented in "fake" newscasts like the Daily Show. Baym says, “This is not simply the move toward “infotainment,” although the fundamental blurring of news and entertainment- a conflation that cuts both ways- certainly is a constituent element. Rather, it is a more profound phenomenon of discursive integration, a way of speaking about, understanding, and acting within the world defined by the permeability of form and the fluidity of content. Discourses of news, politics, entertainment, and marketing have grown deeply inseparable: the languages and practices of each have lost their distinctiveness and are being melded into previously unimagined combinations." This can be clearly seen in the video above. In the very opening scene we see a title reading "The Daily Show" that is very similar to that which you would see on a news cast. It then cuts to Jon Stewart at his desk, talking to his audience like it is a talk show. These are two forms of the discourse of which Baym discusses. Baym also says, “Drawing on live broadcast coverage of public statements and government proceedings, the content of The Daily Show resembles much of the mainstream news media. Empowered by the title of “fake news,” however, The Daily Show routinely violates journalistic conventions in important ways. For one, while it covers the same raw material as does the mainstream news, its choices of sound bites turn contemporary conventions on their head.” (264) This is a technique that is often used by both the "real" news and the "fake" news. This is the process by which audio clips are manipulated to make the same argument as the rest of the news clip.