While reading through a handful of my peers blogs it was clear to me that more than half of the blogs agreed that satirical news reportage is less reliable then your traditional six o’clock news channels may be. If this is the case then are these satirical channels like Rick Mercer and The Daily Show accurately depicting the news in today’s world, or is it all fake? This is the daunting argument that will be discussed in this blog.
The first blog that I stumbled upon shared her own personal experience with the Rick Mercer show and how she believes that it is a less reliable satirical news reporting but that it is a positive attribute to society, as it allows for the interpretation to be self discovered in a humorous way. Natalie states that satirical sources “are useful sources of entertainment that provide relief and a sense of voice for viewers of the public sphere who choose to indulge in it’s content” (http://nk13ps.wordpress.com). Natalie is saying that there is no harm in these types of shows as they provide a comic relief for the audience who would rather have news discussed in a less formal way, in contrast to the more traditional methods. “I believe that satirical news is vital in society to keep a sort of ‘light hearted’ and easy-going feel for all of the chaos constantly being reported” (http://nk13ps.wordpress.com).
Krista’s blog showed an interesting aspect of thought, and intellect. Through her blog she talked about how these types of shows like the Rick Mercer show and The Daily show all contribute positively to society as they show a new aspect of news, and learning. Krista explains how these are types of satirical shows, along with a form of culture jamming to create a balance in society, between the traditional type and the more non- traditional types, “in order to create a balanced society the news we are receiving must be depicted from all angles” (http://kc12bq.wordpress.com).
The third and final blog by Deanna, states that these satirical shows help broaden the audience of people who want to know about the current events of today. These types of satirical shows open up the news world to a younger generation, who don’t necessarily want the traditional news, but want to still be informed “Young people want to learn about their world in a fun and entertaining way and want their attentions to be held” (http://deannaquait.wordpress.com). This Rick Mercer show and The Daily Show both help to prove that culture jamming, and satirical shows aren’t bad for society, but instead broaden the range of viewers, for a more diverse and modern type of news.
In contrast to these shows being a positive asset to society, although being less informative types of news, non-the-less it is still news that evokes more of an audience. This type of news could however be a viability of our contemporary public sphere, as this is not the most accurate type of news, and it does not appear on the TV as often as the traditional news sources. This could become a problem, as we as a society need a steady balance between the two types of satirical and traditional news sources. As both offer a positive attribute to society when together, but when apart both could be a detrimental factor, as it does not appeal to everyone, nor does it have the straight facts of the matter.
1f25 Post 1: Media Impact 