Blog #16 - Is Fake News Good For America?

Is fake news good for America?

I pose this question for our blog b/c in many ways, though it makes us laugh and it has good reporting, it can also blur the lines between fiction and reality. First, let’s talk about the Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

Jon Stewart joined the Daily Show around 1999 or so and the show became a huge topical news hit when deadpan reporter Steve Carell (the same Steve Carell from 40 Year-Old Virgin, Dan in Real Life and Horton Hears a Hoo) got onto John McCain’s campaign bus called the Straight Talk Express and asked such goofy questions that seemed so real “that McCain didn’t know if [Carell] was joking or serious.” 1

Since then, The Daily Show has become the “pit stop” for politicians looking to get re-elected or people (including politicians) looking to pimp their new books. Even the president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, one of America’s most important allies in the war on terror appeared on the show last year (2007). When politicians appear on the show, they know they might get mocked, yet they play along with Stewart’s schtik anyway.

Appearing on late night shows, a tradition started by a saxophone-playing Bill Clinton on the Arsenio Hall Show in 1992, has tended to result in positive publicity for a politician. Whether it’s Leno, Letterman, Stewart, Colbert or Kimmel, “America wants to see these guys poke fun at themselves…” and “present a hipper, gentler side.” 1

Sometimes, these appearances don’t always go positively or they come too late to matter. In 1996, Senator Bob Dole went on the Late Show w/ David Letterman after he lost the election to Bill Clinton. Dole’s quick wit was such a huge hit that many voters wrote to him wishing that they had voted for him earlier. In the 2004 election, President Bush (“came off horribly wooden”) and Senator John Kerry (who rode a Harley onto Leno’s set) both flopped. 1

But, with all of these politicians playing along with the jokes and even being in on some of the gags, sometimes, a viewer might not know where the reality ends and the satire begins. Jon Stewart’s interviews are sometimes better than the ones that the professionals do. In 2000, The Daily Show won a Peabody Award for its coverage of the Bush / Gore campaign – an award that goes to people in the journalism field. And what about the Colbert Report? Stephen Colbert breaks his wrist and believes that “anything he cares about is important enough to talk about every day.” He wanted people to wear “Wrist-Strong” bracelets for wrist-awareness. 2 How much different is this silliness than Glenn Beck, MSNBC’s pundit, talking about his hemorrhoid surgery and the difficulty he had with it on TV? 3

So when we can’t tell the news from the comedy, when we can’t figure out the truth from fiction, how can we make informed decisions? How can we vote for the right candidates? Does all of this confusion mean that American democracy has become a joke? Or is it that the media isn’t doing its job b/c it is too busy following the government or corporate storyline?

The question: Is fake news good for America? Why or why not? Consider the discussion and the questions above before writing your answer (150 words minimum).

Sources:
1. Peyser, Marc. “Red, White and Funny: The new year will bring a host of intriguing faces front and center. Politicians. Actors. Tycoons. Educators. And one fake news anchor, bravely battling pomposity and misinformation. Jon Stewart prepares for Campaign 2004.” Newsweek. Dec. 29, 2003. P. 70.
2. Weinman, Jaime. “The Secret Agenda of the Colbert Report: in two years, he’s turned a “Daily Show” spin-off into a wacky sitcom.” Maclean’s. Oct. 22, 2007. P. 57.
3. The Drudge Report. http://www.drudge.com/news/102972/glenn-becks-eye-opening-hemorrhoid-surgery . Accessed 3/29/08.

The Daily Show - 5 Years in Iraq

Jon Stewart looks at the administration's underestimation of the length of the war, the terribly lame protest movement, the V.P.'s disregard for American opinion polls, and President Bush's travels back in time.

Daily Show - Code Pink Tries to Shut Down Marine Recruiting Station

I love this clip by Rob Riggle of the The Daily Show b/c he looks at this inane group called Code Pink (apparently a take-off of the Dept. of Homeland Security's rainbow code system of security) who want to stop the Marines from recruiting in Berkley, California - one of the most liberal places in America. Riggle uses their own comments to show how lame, unfocused and ineffective the anti-war movement is today - he doesn't have to say much, he just uses their own words against them. It's satire at its finest.

Fake News - The Colbert Report

Here is an interview on a "fake news" channel, The Colbert Report, of Samantha Power, the woman we saw in No End in Sight, talking about her new book about Sergio Vieira de Mello, the U.N. fix-it guy that was killed in the truck bomb incident in August 2003. She called him the "most important man we've never heard of."

Blog #15 - After September 11, 2001....

Many of you were 9, 10 or 11 years old when this tragic event happened, and that's part of the reason why I feel the need to start the semester with those horrible events of that perfect, blue-sky Tuesday morning in late summer 2001.

In the video we watched together, In Memoriam: New York City: 9/11/01, we saw some awful images - maybe they were new for you, maybe not.

I'd like you to answer a couple of questions:

1. Pretend you don't know anything about what's happened in the six and a half years since 9/11/01 - just pretend. How would you want America to respond to this attack that left 3,000 dead and over 15,000 wounded?

A few things to think about when you answer this question: Would you respond militarily by attacking Al-Qaeda? Would you respond diplomatically by trying to isolate Al-Qaeda economically and help eliminate the sources of poverty? Would you work to improve America's image within the Arab world? Or is there another alternative? What could Americans have done at home to make a difference? (include some of your notes from the video here).

2. Question #2 - Do you believe that the Presidential candidates will be able to do what they say about Iraq? Why or why not?

Alternate question #2 (in case you don't like the first question #2) - Should we remain in Iraq and stabilize the country, withdraw gradually, or leave as quickly as possible? Why?

The Iraq War is now coming up on its 5th year anniversary and few see an end in sight. Click here for the latest opinions on the war from Gallup Poll : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCAaYzFdrm0 (it's very short -only 1:30 long).

So far, almost 4,000 American soldiers have been killed and over 15,000 injured. The war has cost over $3.1 trillion dollars, and America is in the middle of a recession. Gas prices are predicted to hit $4.00 by Memorial Day (a little over 2 months away) and oil prices keep hitting new historic high prices ()$108 a barrel just the other day - 3/11/08). Americans are divided over the war and how to finish the war.

Obama, Clinton and McCain are debating what to do with Iraq and Afghanistan - should I stay or should I go now? Many Americans think that by leaving too early we will leave Iraq as a breeding ground for terror (much like Afghanistan turned into one in the 1990s). Others feel like we need to increase the number of troops. Others feel like that we broke Iraq, we need to fix it.

John McCain: "A greater military commitment now is necessary if we are to achieve long-term success in Iraq. John McCain agrees with retired Army General Jack Keane that there are simply not enough American forces in Iraq. More troops are necessary to clear and hold insurgent strongholds; to provide security for rebuilding local institutions and economies; to halt sectarian violence in Baghdad and disarm Sunni and Shia militias; to dismantle al Qaeda; to train the Iraqi Army; and to embed American personnel in Iraqi police units."
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/

Hillary Clinton: "The most important part of Hillary's plan is the first: to end our military engagement in Iraq's civil war and immediately start bringing our troops home. As president, one of Hillary's first official actions would be to convene the Joint Chiefs of Staff, her Secretary of Defense, and her National Security Council. She would direct them to draw up a clear, viable plan to bring our troops home starting with the first 60 days of her Administration. " http://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/

Barack Obama: "Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda." http://www.barackobama.com/issues/

Each of your answers to the questions should be a minimum of 100 words.

This song, "Belief", by John Mayer fits this conflict between America and radical Islam so well:

Is there anyone who / Ever remembers changing there mind from
The paint on a sign?

Is there anyone who really recalls / Ever breaking rank at all
For something someone yelled real loud one time

Everyone believes / In how they think it ought to be

Everyone believes / And they're not going easily

Belief is a beautiful armor / But makes for the heaviest sword
Like punching under water / You never can hit who you're trying for

Some need the exhibition / And some have to know they tried
It's the chemical weapon / For the war that's raging on inside

Everyone believes / From emptiness to everything
Everyone believes / And no ones going quietly

We're never gonna win the world
We're never gonna stop the war
We're never gonna beat this
If belief is what we're fighting for

What puts a hundred thousand children in the sand
Belief can / Belief can
What puts the folded flag inside his mother's hand
Belief can / Belief can


I felt that this picture of the parents of Marine Sgt. Robert Courtney, killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq on October 30, 2004, fit the song well("what puts the folded flag inside his mother's hand?"). For every number that we hear on the news... "3 American soldiers killed by a mortar attack in Fallujah..." there is a whole group of people behind that one person who was killed or wounded. This is the human cost of what is being done in Iraq and Afghanistan.