News, trust, and “truthiness”!
Most of my classmates agree that satirical news reporting is more or equally reliable as traditional news reporting.
Kaitlin says that while satirical news reporting is comedic by nature it informs people.
“These satire shows sometimes mock the news event to bring awareness to it. Though they are mocking and criticizing these events, they also can be very informative and don’t necessarily hide or sugar coat facts to their viewers.” (http://kaitlinsanderson.wordpress.com/)
Satirical news reporting can be a great way to inform people. Even though you’re laughing you also start to think about what is being presented. You become aware of what’s happening and form ideas, opinions, and beliefs .
Ty says that satirical news reporting gives audiences the whole truth where as traditional news reporting only gives something that is partially true.
“Rick Mercer is famous for his witty humor and fast remarks about Politian’s on his TV show, but that’s only half the reason people love him, the second half is the fact the he brings out the truth about untouched areas in parliament and isn’t afraid to rip on Politian’s if they do something wrong. Where as in the actual news, reporters avoid this due to the fear of being fired or because they were told not to.” (http://tykeca.wordpress.com/)
The validity of traditional news reporting is sometimes put into question. Reading this quote reminded me of what Professor Bradley said about war journalists. That in an effort to stop the negative press concerning the war, journalists where handpicked by the government and were only allowed to accompany select units on the battlefield. The journalists selected where mostly young adults and therefore were easily manipulated. Since they were only allowed to see certain parts of the conflict their view was biased and did not fully represent the whole truth.
(A+ for listening in class?)
Allison’s blog entry talks about how satirical news reporting is just as valid as traditional news reporting. She says that traditional news and satirical news have the same goals but appeal to different audiences.
“Global News and Saturday Night Live have more in common than you think. Despite the fact that the nightly news has a generally older audience, and SNL’s demographic are young adults” (http://allisonsparham.wordpress.com/)
“Although SNL is watched mainly for the humor, the political and societal sections such as ‘Weekend Update’ affect its viewers more than they realize.” (http://allisonsparham.wordpress.com/)
I agree with her both forms of news reporting have similar goals. They both want to raise the awareness of the general public. The only difference is that satirical news reporting incorporates wit and humor when presenting the news. This allows satirical news to appeal towards a younger audience and essentially draw in people who normally would not watch the news.
Satirical news reporting is just as valid as traditional news reporting. Satirical news connects more towards a younger audience and traditional news reporting connects to an older audience. As I said in my previous entry both have their advantages and disadvantages. The validity of traditional news reporting can be put into question and making something controversial can widen its appeal. Both forms of news reporting inform the general public. Overall I think satirical news reporting is beneficial to the public sphere. The broad appeal of satirical news ensures that more people are informed. The more people are informed and aware the better society will become.
Since this is my last post as a way of saying thank you to everyone who read my blog here’s a picture of a cake with hearts inside.
Fun Fact: In 17th century England people believed that if you sleep with a fruit cake underneath your pillow you’ll dream about your special someone. ❤
Check out these awesome blogs!
Kaitlin: http://kaitlinsanderson.wordpress.com
Ty: http://tykeca.wordpress.com/
Allison: http://allisonsparham.wordpress.com/
Sources
http://www.media-studies.ca/articles/war_propaganda.htm
http://rosannapansino.com/post/43082103538/portal-cake-with-a-heart-in-the-middle-happy
http://bakistryblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/amazing-facts-about-cakes/
dcharles10 