Claudia Ramos
Professor: Sean Wilkinson
English 100
19 September 2017
The Efficacy of Humor
News is a vital piece of information obtained from reliable research with facts given to the people. Some may make political decisions based on how accurate the information is. Society tends to stay informed with what is trending around the world by watching Fox news, CNN news. People have also begun to view satirical news show, Like the Saturday Night Live Show and The Daily Show in order to get political and current event news. Satirical news is known for using comedy and criticism in a way to incorporate humor to report current important issues and politics to their viewers. Satirical news is more effective than traditional news because it points
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With our most recent 2016 presidential campaign, many politicians were the main targets of satire news shows. Saturday Night Live show comedian Melissa Mc Carthy impersonated Donald Trump's former press secretary Sean Spicer on the way he speaks to reporters. The video clip has then been uploaded into YouTube and has reached 29,582,778 views on YouTube. Our current president Donald Trump is known for his use of Tweeter, using it to communicate his thoughts to the world. In a segment of The Saturday Night Live Show Comedian Alec Baldwin was featured as the president, constantly distracted by is tweeter feed during a national security briefing. This video has also been uploaded into YouTube and has gotten 1.6 million views. With so many viewers watching satire news it appears to be an effective way of entertaining viewers with a way of criticizing the flaws of influential people. Other Satirical news shows also have found ways to critique and re-enact issues through examples of comedy such as The Daily Show and Jon Steward. Satire shows use effective ways by re-enacting how influential people behave to draw attention to their viewers and be able to get them informed before other news cast …show more content…
They are able to critique and re-enact issues through examples of comedy with an effective way of keeping the audiences informed with informative information. Both Satirical news and regular news can inform the same audience. Both choose to express it in different ways, satirical does it in a manner of intellectual and entertaining so their viewers have their own understanding of current events. Fox news reports current events with an unexciting and repetitive way that may leave viewers not interested or not understand the point of the news source being provided. A study done by Pew research shows that viewers of The Daily show and Colbert report, have the highest knowledge of national and international news, while traditional news like Fox news, views rank last. Satire news creates creativity content to expose crucial issues that other news may not want to expose, therefore plays an important role of effective communication and entertainment. Effective satire shows are able to influence or impact their viewers by educating and influencing their opinion by simply drawing attention to specific important issues with
While the tone may range from playful to angry, satire generally criticizes in order to make a change. Exaggeration, parody, reversal, and incongruity are satirical devices. Author’s use satirical devices to strengthen their central idea.
Satire can be defined as any work in which a human vice or folly is attacked with irony or sarcasm. An example of satire can be found in the song "When the President Talks to God" by Bright Eyes. In this song, the lyrics lay out hypothetical conversations between the President and God, which mocks current President George W. Bush and his use of strong religious influence while in office.
Satire is form of comedy in which flaws in people or society are chastised in order to prompt change in the objects of criticism. Regardless of how long ago comedy itself may have existed, the concept of satire was introduced by the Roman satirists, Juvenal and Horace. The tones conveyed in their writing characterize the main modes of satire, being Horatian and Juvenalian, and are still used in satire today. Presently, two popular forms of comedy that employ satirical elements include parody news sources and comedic performances. Although satirical writing has evolved throughout history, many aspects of satire are still apparent in both the articles of parody news sources, like The Onion, and the performances of professional comedians, like
In his essay, “The Good, The Bad, and The Daily Show,” Jason Zinser explores the vices and virtues of so-called “fake” news programs. “Fake” news, as Zinser explains, are those programs that blend newsworthy events with comedy. By examining The Daily Show, Zinser reveals both positive and negative impacts that “fake” news could have on society. As a result, Zinser concludes that there are benefits as well as potential problems with “fake” news programs but insists that the true challenge is determining the net impact on society. The essay, which first appeared in The Daily Show and Philosophy: Moments of Zen and the Art of Fake News in 2007, challenges experts on both sides of the argument who either claim fake news is for entertainment only or that fake news is an acceptable source for information on current events. On one hand, Zinser uses expert testimonies to support his argument that the end result is a better informed public but on the other, he makes logical arguments enhanced by examples to illustrate the potential impacts “fake” news can have on its viewers and mainstream media.
For example, the comedy shows The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon expresses satirical humor concerning politics. His show also demonstrates political satire by telling jokes and even impersonating political figures for the audience. He creates humor through sarcasm that focuses on real issues. His sarcastic humor causes others to feel more confident in their criticism toward politicians. For example, “Jimmy Fallon expresses his humor about Donald Trump, impersonating his appearance and imitating his voice while talking about politics. He uses his humor by impersonating Donald Trump and his sweeping generalizations with Madea (Rogo).” Jimmy Fallon shows people his views through humor and it creates a sense of community to express their agreeable and disagreeable views. As we discussed some ideas about satirical humor that affects political changes, it was important to reveal their feelings about changes in life and drove them to look upon their society or government more
On the contrary of the newscasts offered by CBS and NBC, a cable news program called “The Colbert Report” not only shows bias to other aired news, but makes satire news about them. Unlike the other cable news programs (like FOX or CNN, and the like), “The Colbert Report” is one of the programs that is on Comedy Central that shows a different (but a parody) approach version of conservative political pundits; the other is “The Daily Show with John Stewart”.
Distraction, lack of education, disinterest and misinterpretation; every one of these words describe a reason people give for being uniformed and unaware of the current events swirling around them. In an effort to try and remedy the lack of awareness about the problems plaguing the country, many artists and entertainers use satire, a literary device which merges a critical attitude with humor and wit to the end that human organizations or humanity may be improved (Harris), to keep the general public, somewhat, informed. Often times, movies, comic strips, music, literature and television shows are used to satirize current events, political views and different morals.
Satire is a great tool used by many writers and actors since ancient times. The earliest example that we know about is a script from 2nd millennium BC in Ancient Egypt (Definition: Satire) and since then has evolved into a great part of our society. Satire is used to point out the faults of human vice in order for change and reform in either of two ways. There is a very bitter Juvenalian or a mild and light Horatian. In order to fully understand these forms of satire, method, purpose, and applications will be addressed.
Both CNN and Fox News influence these immense populations with how each utilize pathos, ethos and logos in the topics discussed during the broadcasted show. For example, Fox News 's audience seems to be primarily conservative, while CNN’s audience seem to be more liberal (Engel). So each network’s stories “focus on the issues that” conservatives or liberals “want to watch and talk about” (James). These topics are used to develop a more conservative or liberal fan base in the respective news networks. As the dominant news network on cable television, Fox News impacts the greatest quantity of citizens, bringing in an audience of over two million for primetime (James). Therefore, Fox News influences the largest percentage of Americans listening to news networks by effectively using these manipulative literary techniques. However, CNN has a younger audience than Fox News (Carter), which contributes to CNN’s audience growing from 350,000 a night, in 2013 (Agee), to 629,000 viewers a night (James). CNN and Fox News compete with each other to influence the greatest amount of people and the public’s opinion of current events. Each network appeals to pathos, logos and ethos differently and similarly to coax the greatest amount of listeners each night.
Comedian Jon Stewart gives a speech on the Daily Show during the “Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear”. He wants the viewers of the Daily Show to realize the difference between the real and fake threats and to take a humorous perspective on most of America’s “problems”. Stewart also emphasizes to his audience not to take every person on the media by his word and not to overreact to everything they hear. He uses metaphors, comparisons, and hypothetical examples to get his point across.
According to Everything’s an Argument by Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz, “Humor has always played an important role in argument…” (38). Humor itself is something that activates amusement or laughter. Moreover, in popular culture satire is a tool that is used to point out things in our society. Satire opens the minds of people to philosophies they might completely deny, using humor. There are many elements of satire that identify flaws within our society. A couple of satire elements that will be discussed are irony and exaggeration. In addition, a parody is used in popular culture as a way to mock or mimic situation or person.
political satire is a type of satire that is based on entertaining people through politics. Its usually used in political protest or political opposition, not necessarily to push political agenda or influence the political process in the country. Mostly the dominant objective behind political satire is to simply entertain and make people laugh on the government expense. You would defiantly not expect this kind of satire coming from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Using ridicule or mockery in the battleground, a satire has the avowed objective of correcting human faults, while arousing laughter or scorn in its intended audience or bystanders of the victorious side. General targets or foe of satires' include individuals, social groups, institutions, and human nature. Like other genres, a satire is often a mode of writing introduced into various literal forms. A poetic satirist or the victorious poet sometimes uses scorn, sarcasm, innuendo or irony along with humor to expose the enemy's human faults or foolishness. Throughout the history of literature, satirical poems have obliterated many varieties of antagonist, ranging from religious figures to political and social failings in society.
...oen, G., & Sahin, V. (2007). No Joke: A Comparison of Substance in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Broadcast Television Coverage of the 2004 Presidential Election Campaign. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 51(2), 213-227.
From the beginning days of the printing press to the always evolving internet of present day, the media has greatly evolved and changed over the years. No one can possibly overstate the influential power of the new media of television on the rest of the industry. Television continues to influence the media, which recently an era of comedic television shows that specialize in providing “fake news” has captivated. The groundbreaking The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and its spin-off The Colbert Report have successfully attracted the youth demographic and have become the new era’s leading political news source. By parodying news companies and satirizing the government, “fake news” has affected the media, the government, and its audience in such a way that Bill Moyers has claimed “you simply can’t understand American politics in the new millennium without The Daily Show,” that started it all (PBS).