“One Anchor, Five Corespondents, Zero Credibility” The Daily Show with John Stewart is definitely not your average news program. Because of its ability to deliver the latest in politics, current events and pop culture, it has become a huge informational source for young Americans. As it is described on the Comedy Central website, the Daily Show is “a nightly half-hour series unburdened by objectivity, journalistic integrity or even accuracy.” Many people have argued that the Daily Show has a negative impact on its viewers because it gives a cynical, biased view of politics and politicians that might not always be true. Others say that the Daily Show is good for young people because it gets them interested in current events that they otherwise
Thus, democracy and a fair voting group become tainted. I would definitely say that Comedy Central's Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report are part of the "media" that affects people’s opinion. These television shows are a way to provide comedic relief to the issues our economy faces; however, these shows still have an impact of how the viewer will understand an issue at hand. It is very difficult for anyone to be completely unbiased and with constantly hearing other people’s opinion through the media. We cannot make a decision of how “we” feel about the topic.
No matter the topic; history, sports, politics, media, sexuality, etc., The Boondocks will be very truthful and blunt about it. I’ve been watching The Boondocks since it started in 2005 and this show defines me because of its comedic way of telling the truth about society. With my views about the media I really don’t like to believe “the hype” or any of the publicity stunts that go on too often. Sometimes I think the government is full of conspiracies and I find it easy to point out irony, and hypocrisy like Huey. He even took a stand against B.E.T.
Neil Postman, the author of Amusing Ourselves to Death, presents bold new ideas about television and modern culture. He analyzes the media, past and present, as well as the mediums of cultures until present to come to one discovery. Public discourse, mainly political discourse, has been tainted because it is presented more in images than in words. Postman uses many different rhetorical devices to convince us it is terrible that pictures have replaced words as the chief mode of communication. Hyperbole is the first device that postman uses.
Bias Analysis #1: Long Editorial I know not one person whom believes that the new reported on television is not liberally biased. I often come home to find my father complaining about the media’s slant towards democratic views yet he is frequently preaching what they report as fact. These so called “truthful” accounts are delivered in a similar way as the orchestrated scenes of movie; just as movies are created to induce a certain emotion or address a question, media coverage is meant to fuel paranoia and incite a desire for change which would benefit a minority of people. In Bernard Goldberg’s book Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News, he attempts to tackle the issue of liberal media bias in the large East-coast news organizations. In his narrative, Goldberg begins by explaining his current situation of exile from media coverage despite his 28 years of service.
Last night, I watched the most recent episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. One of the segments was dedicated to a clip of Obama speaking during his campaign in 2007, where he supposedly made some racist comments and was supporting class warfare. Jon Stewart’s segment pulled out a clip from FOX News, where the anchor made a comment along the lines of “People are saying this has already been reported on, but I know it hasn’t because I reported on it the first time.” This clip was the central focus of the segment because of the sheer stupidity of his comment, let alone the fact that he contradicted himself by claiming something hadn’t been done and then saying he did it. I think the piece was negative, because it was meant to portray FOX
Joel Stein, a comedic writer for Time magazine, shows a lot of subtle insight in his work. He plays on common, relatable themes and humor. In articles like, “” he uses humor to cover various topics, from politics to pole vaulting. He writes in a very approachable tone, to convey a sense of a normal person writing the article, complete with flaws and awkwardness. Stein usually limits his figurative language to subtle irony now and again.
Insurance advertisements from a few years ago had a tendency to be more serious, like Prudential’s “Own a Piece of the Rock” or Allstate’s previous ads with actor Dennis Haybert talking more seriously about insurance losses. Insurance giant Geico, a Warren Buffet owned company, started using humor a few years ago with the Geico Gecko and the Cavemen to sell insurance. Everybody needs insurance, and it is a competitive business, but Allstate is hoping to tilt the scales in their favor with a character that they have created called Mayhem. Mayhem grabs your attention with humor, he shows the craziness that can happen in life, and how Allstate is there to protect us, making this a pretty effective advertisement. Mayhem is a humorous, exaggerated depiction of the things that can go wrong in everyday life.
The strengths of Moore’s documentary are that it uses entertainment as a means to portray his arguments, for example the use of cartoons whilst analysing a historical point. The weaknesses is that he was not at all times entirely focused on the point in the hand and tended to drift off into an area of interest as opposed to pursuing political research. Moore also makes significant contradictions. He mocks the irrelevance of bowling being a cause of the massacre, however asserts that foreign policy is linked when there is no evidence. It was coincidental that the massacre occurred on the same day as the increased bombing.
First the sun is mocked, and then a wide social spectrum is satirized. The speaker next satirizes “hours, days, [and] months,” which he lambastes as being the mere “rags of time” (10), but then he soon returns to satirizing the sun (11-18). He subsequently mocks “Princes” (23), honor (24), and “wealth” (24) before returning once more to satire of the sun (25-30).This poem, in other words, is a tour de force of satire, presenting an extremely self-confident speaker. Is it possible, however, that Donne himself is mocking the very speaker he presents? Is it possible that the speaker is a bit too cocky, a bit too self-centered, a bit too complacent and self-involved?