John Oliver: Combating Apathy With Comedy

"Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand" 

– Mark Twain.

Key Points:

                                             Last Week Tonight With John Oliver

The largest battle of any journalist or journalism outfit has always been to keep the attention of the reader/viewer. Political cartoons were utilized in the 19^th and 20^th centuries to instantly communicate instances of cronyism and corruption to all audiences regardless of education or social status. In 2016, we live in an age where the 24-hour news cycle redundantly dissects superficial topics and where the Internet is always bursting at the seams with new stories and digital content.  Holding a viewers attention has become harder than ever, particularly when the topic is obscure, complicated and nuanced.

John Oliver has the latent ability to capture and maintain peoples attention. He uses comedy as a means for delivering truths on dense, unsexy topics relevant to us all. 

•       A Daily Show Alum
•       John Oliver’s ‘acts of journalism’ were named in the Columbia journalism review assome of the best journalism in 2015
•       “Explainer comedy” model and a spin off of “news anchor satire”
•      "many studies have theorized the social and political value of these programs as tools of resistance" (Russell, 2011).  
•      "Baym argues that satire and parody are effective tools in interrogating power and deconstructing news" (Russell, 2011). 
•     "Relays information in a clear, comedic way that’s easier for viewers to comprehend"(CJR, 2014)
•       Holds the attention of viewers
•       Aggregates many peoples’ reporting to take a broad look at unexciting topics
•       Does not assume viewers have a baseline awareness of current events or issues
•       Devotes extensive time to dense topics (thanks, HBO)

Visuals:

Questions:

How well do you trust the information you receive from "explainer comedy" as opposed to 24-hour news such as CNN, MSNBC or FOX?

Do you think millennials are more receptive/encouraging of this sort of media? Do you see it becoming more popular/integrated into our everyday media landscape as the century marches on?

References:

Swanson, Ana. "The Daily Show Is One of America's Most Trusted News Sources." Washington Post. N.p., 11 Feb. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.

Uberti, David. "4 Topics John Oliver Explained More Clearly than Television News." Columbia Journalism Review. CJR, 25 Aug. 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.

Russell, Adrienne. Networked: A Contemporary History of News in Transition. Cambridge, UK: Polity, 2011. Print.

Uberti, David. "The Best and Worst Journalism of 2015." Columbia Journalism Review, 8 Dec. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.

Brody, Ben. "How John Oliver Transformed the Net Neutrality Debate Once and for All." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 26 Feb. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.

Mejia, Paula. "IRS UNDER MICROSCOPE AFTER JOHN OLIVER TELEVANGELISM SEGMENT." Newsweek.com. NewsWeek, 23 Aug. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.