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Jenkins believes that “making politics into a kind of popular culture [has allowed] consumers to apply fan expertise to their civic responsibilities.” Forms of pop culture like photoshopped images, parody news shows, etc., have political effects because they represent “hybrid spaces where we can lower the political stakes (and change the language of politics) enough so that we can master skills we need to be participants in the democratic process” (Jenkins). He provides The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as an example of a show that combines popular culture and political and current events. The Colbert Report and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver also have similar functions and formats. They all parody mainstream media news shows and critique their coverage of current issues.
The Colbert Report utilizes satire in order to make their points, the character Stephen Colbert is a caricature of a Republican pundit. Funnily enough there are viewers who believe that Stephen Colbert, the person, is truly a conservative Republican and do not fully understand that he’s mocking them. Even though this is a late night show on Comedy Central it is still informative. When the Supreme Court ruled in the Citizens United case Colbert illuminated the process and involvement of the 501(c)(4) and Super PACs and what and how they can use their money by creating his own Super PAC. Throughout a series of episodes portions were dedicated to his Super PAC “Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow” (parodying names of other actual Super PACs) and discussing the ramifications of the Court’s decision in where the money is coming from and where it is spent. Colbert actually won a Peabody award for his SuperPAC segments as “innovative means of teaching American viewers about the landmark court decision” (Subramanian).
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is another show that mocks cable news. What’s unique about this show is that since its broadcast on HBO it doesn’t rely on sponsors so Oliver can freely criticize corporations. A benefit of having no advertising is that there are no commercials and thus more time to actually do journalism and provide more in depth reporting. John Oliver can spend more time discussing important issues like payday loans in the United States, student debt from for-profit institutions of higher learning like University of Phoenix, or civil forfeiture. These serious problems, which receive little to no air time on other news shows, are presented in an informative and humorous way.
All three shows have millions of viewers and are important to the national conversation. For example if Jon Stewart disparages Bill O’Reilly on his show O’Reilly will then refute what Jon was discussing on his own show The O’Reilly Factor. When they are being referenced in the mainstream media they are helping to bring certain issues to the forefront of cable news. Even though they are biased they still bring up issues that perhaps the mainstream media is largely ignoring or not reporting on enough. These shows educate the viewer through humor and provide other points of view than those in cable news.
The Colbert Report utilizes satire in order to make their points, the character Stephen Colbert is a caricature of a Republican pundit. Funnily enough there are viewers who believe that Stephen Colbert, the person, is truly a conservative Republican and do not fully understand that he’s mocking them. Even though this is a late night show on Comedy Central it is still informative. When the Supreme Court ruled in the Citizens United case Colbert illuminated the process and involvement of the 501(c)(4) and Super PACs and what and how they can use their money by creating his own Super PAC. Throughout a series of episodes portions were dedicated to his Super PAC “Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow” (parodying names of other actual Super PACs) and discussing the ramifications of the Court’s decision in where the money is coming from and where it is spent. Colbert actually won a Peabody award for his SuperPAC segments as “innovative means of teaching American viewers about the landmark court decision” (Subramanian).
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is another show that mocks cable news. What’s unique about this show is that since its broadcast on HBO it doesn’t rely on sponsors so Oliver can freely criticize corporations. A benefit of having no advertising is that there are no commercials and thus more time to actually do journalism and provide more in depth reporting. John Oliver can spend more time discussing important issues like payday loans in the United States, student debt from for-profit institutions of higher learning like University of Phoenix, or civil forfeiture. These serious problems, which receive little to no air time on other news shows, are presented in an informative and humorous way.
All three shows have millions of viewers and are important to the national conversation. For example if Jon Stewart disparages Bill O’Reilly on his show O’Reilly will then refute what Jon was discussing on his own show The O’Reilly Factor. When they are being referenced in the mainstream media they are helping to bring certain issues to the forefront of cable news. Even though they are biased they still bring up issues that perhaps the mainstream media is largely ignoring or not reporting on enough. These shows educate the viewer through humor and provide other points of view than those in cable news.
Citations:
Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: When Old and New Media Collide
Subramanian, Courtney. http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/05/stephen-colberts-super-pac-satire-lands-him-a-peabody/
Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: When Old and New Media Collide
Subramanian, Courtney. http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/05/stephen-colberts-super-pac-satire-lands-him-a-peabody/
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