John Oliver, comedian, a reliable source for America’s breaking news stories. Are his stories reliable? This is a tough question because people have varying opinions of his show and it is sometimes difficult to tell if he is telling the truth or not. This show is full of laughter, comedy, and he makes some really good points. It is just hard to tell if he is using accurate facts for his show and if they are truthful. To clarify this issue, I am going to describe several points to show John Oliver’s authority. John Oliver is a reliable source because he does extensive research on the topics, provides examples on the show in real life and is more trusted than any other news station.
Oliver does extensive research on topics to make sure he has a great show. In his article, “John Oliver is Really Doing Some Good Investigative Journalism” written
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The article, “Comedian John Oliver takes on the prosperity gospel by becoming a televangelist” by Abby Ohlheiser talks about how people donate money to the church in return for a better life. Oliver actually provided real-life example of this to see what the response was. Oliver said, “God will be angry with you if you do not send us money.” He set up a phone number for people to call to donate the money (Ohleiser 1). Oliver set this up because churches do not have to pay taxes. The money Oliver would get is tax-free and he will get to keep all of it. He gave the money he earned to a charity called Doctors Without Borders. Oliver demonstrated how people are swayed with a few cunning words that people could be taken advantage of by being lied to (Ohleiser 1). It was a reliable source because Oliver showed us the facts first, and then did a little experiment and showed the people what he was talking about. This is a good way to get people believe you by showing visual information and they will trust that your source is accurate and
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.
matter. Bill Maher fails to persuade religious followers to doubt their religions, he has made a poorly
In April of 2017, Jorge Ramos gave a TED talk titled, “Why Journalists Have an Obligation to Challenge Power.” Ramos is an immigrant and journalist who introduces the idea that the responsibility and purpose of journalism is to oppose those
“Women! What do they want?” John Oliver exclaims sarcastically as he begins his segment on the wage gap. John Oliver always begins his segments with sarcastic and witty comments in order to initially engage his audience which is largely young adults. His use of a news station background is what grabs the attention of news watchers. While he does discuss serious issues he does it with wit in order for his audience to come to the same conclusion as him. Knowing that the majority of his audience holds some college experience, “Last night tonight” expects the audience to be able to differentiate between the actual news and the host’s sarcasm. In his segment “Wage Gap”, host John Oliver uses statistics from the U.S Bureau of Labor, contradicting
Each anchor has their own viewpoint of the world and determines, in their way, how to portray that information in mainstream media. Anchors in news stations will try in any way to make themselves look like they are in the right, even if they have to change the stories to appeal to certain audiences. Viewers sometimes may have awareness where they know that some of the things they see on Fox are not true, but will viewers honestly fact check everything they see or hear on the news? No, not really, they would rather just hear it, feel what they want to feel, and it eventually becomes
“Fake” news programs, such as The Daily Show, Zinser reasonably argues, have the potential to dilute mass media and deceive viewers. The Daily Show has been straightforward about its lack of legitimacy as a hard hitting news program, but “the show’s content and guest list suggest otherwise” (Zinser 367). Zinser indicates that The Daily Show should hold itself to higher standards because “people might well think they’re being fully or sufficiently informed while watching” (367). In other words, Zinser believes that if viewers tune in with the expectation of becoming informed and The Daily Show’s content consists of significant topics, the creators ...
The main speaker was Michael Pollan, an American author and journalism professor at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He attended Columbia University, Bennington College, and University of Oxford. Eric Schlosser also played a key role in the documentary. Schlosser is an investigative detective and American journalist who attended Princeton University, University of Oxford, and
After twenty-eight years working for CBS, Bernard Goldberg decided that he no longer wanted to work for a news station he didn’t admire. Thus, he resigned and began work on his book Bias; a book in which he merely draws attention to the media for reporting from a leftist perspective, preventing the audience from receiving an objective, unbiased view of what really goes on in our world. As an “old-fashioned liberal,” as he calls himself, he does not attempt to gain conservative support for accusing liberals of bias. Rather, he would prefer liberal support for acknowledging this problem in hopes of changing the face of news. He bases his book on his personal experience as a former news anchor for CBS. Despite popular belief, he meant no harm in his book (or in his editorials) to his previous employees. His only hope was to point out an alarmingly, already well-known fact; that reporters, even if unintentionally, at news stations like CBS, NBC, and ABC report the news from their liberal viewpoint, inhibiting their audiences’s right to an accurate portrayal of our news.
He provides factual evidence from Peter Unger that states that just $200 in donations can ensure a child’s survival, which extends his argument by leading to a position in which choosing anything other than using excess money to save a child would characterize one’s actions as immoral. Singer openly weighs the value of the spending of $200 on dinner against saving a child, forcing the readers to agree with his claim because choosing any alternative to saving the child would be wrong. By comparing the value of the $200 used for a child versus dinner at a restaurant, Singer continues to emotionally appeal to his audience by inducing reflection and guilt for not helping overseas children. Additionally, it can be expected that the readers of the New York Times Magazine are those who are considered wealthy enough to donate their restaurant funds to overseas charities, thus directly targeting the emotions of those who have been previously turning their back on the needy children. Supporting his claim with this monetary evidence from Peter Unger, a New York University philosopher, also adds credibility to his belief, since the reader sees that his call to donate is shared by
People like to read about topics that they can relate to, especially because world poverty and starvation are still issues in many impoverished countries. Both of these articles stir up a lot of controversy between people in wealthier nations such as the United States because not everyone is going to be willing to donate ten to twenty percent of their yearly income. I personally believe that it is not my moral obligation to feed the poor and hungry because I have my own life and my loved ones to worry about. I’m not saying we shouldn’t give anything to people in need of help, but there’s just so much you can do to help other people. Singer mentions that organizations like UNICEF and Oxfam America collect money to save the lives of children. Let’s say you donate $200 to one of these organizations. You might be able to help one “sickly 2-year-old transform into a healthy 6-year-old” but what happens after that? Does the 6-year-old child continue to be healthy? What can you do to make sure that your initial donation of $200 benefits the child in the long run? I’m sure you don’t just want to temporarily help a child in need (Singer
It is important to understand the background of the person doing the reporting of events as it can influence what they think and say.
Television network Comedy Central, obviously known for their comedy programs, has a show called the Daily Show which doubles as a news broadcasting program of sorts. The broadcast is hosted by a South African comedian and actor named Trevor Noah. During the episode of the Daily Show following the democratic debate in Las Vegas, Noah and his news team did a post debate analysis where they presented a few of the main topics of the debate as well as their own remarks on each of the five individual candidates. While the Daily Show focused primarily on the satirical commentary of the top news headlines, the content and presentation can be analyzed through Nosich’s Standards of Reasoning to determine if the comedy show could be considered a reliable news source.
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).
Demir, Muge. "Importance Of Ethic, Credibility And Reliability In Online Journalism." European Journal Of Social Science 24.4 (2011): 537-545.
In trying to attract new audiences, news media have begun to transition from reporting to becoming a form of entertainment. With the meteoric rise of social media’s role as a news source, the fight for an increase of diversity in the media, and the ever-growing desire of immediate content, the future of responsible journalism is more important than ever. Ask yourself, why do I think the way I do? Where do my political views originate? How do I prove them? Most likely, it is due to the biased portrayal of issues in the media and the politicization that accompanies what we consume. Now, compare your views to your preferred news reporting entity. More than likely, they are the same.