Poll of the Day > The Problem With Jon Stewart S01E07 The Media

(+) Yeah! (+)

In this episode Jon looks at the problem of the necessity of the media for a free and open democracy and the reality of how the media operates and falls short of the ideals they set out for themselves. To this end he starts off by looking at the reporting surrounding one story, The Muller Report, from initial coverage, through the years of hype and story building and the inevitable disappointment of the conclusions. He then talks with three members of the media (essentially the ones who agreed to talk about the issue on camera) in a round table discussion that explores how ratings drive the news, before ending the program in a conversation with Bob Iger on the issue.

When The Problem first aired last year it was a bit more comedy focused, but the episodes that have come out this year (while still comedic) are more in depth looks at the issue of the week. This weeks issue was really well done and I think would appeal to the more right wing members of society.

Something Jon has been working on and I think it's something we have all been struggling with, is how do we as a society come together when everyone has their own "facts" their own narrative of events, and I think this episode is a moment that can help bridge that divide.

KodyKeir posted...

In this episode Jon looks at the problem of the necessity of the media for a free and open democracy and the reality of how the media operates and falls short of the ideals they set out for themselves.

So he's still being a hypocritical piece of shit then?

ParanoidObsessive posted...

So he's still being a hypocritical piece of shit then?

?

He's still a comedian that is trying to educate his fellow humans.

Though one thing that he come so close to the point but still manages to miss (like nearly everyone else in the media who covers the topic) the root of the problem lies in the love of money; these are corporations, business entities whose goal is to make profit and when profit is put before all else, the integrity of the institution is corrupted.

I should point out that he's on Apple tv so his reach is the five people that watch Apple tv.

Listening to Jon's new show has been like pouring oatmeal in my ass.

More shallow assessment of the Mueller Report 3 years later? OMG SIGN ME UP

ReturnOfFa posted...

Listening to Jon's new show has been like pouring oatmeal in my ass.

... Warm?

ReturnOfFa posted...

Listening to Jon's new show has been like pouring oatmeal in my ass.

Don't knock it until you try it. I start every morning with oatmeal up the ass

ReturnOfFa posted...

assessment of the Mueller Report

It's not an assessment of the Mueller Report, it's an assessment of the coverage of the Mueller Report as part of the larger context of how the news is driven to be produced as entertainment rather then be a delivery of important information that we need to know.

Once upon a time, we would turn on the news and Walter Cronkite would tell us all the important events that happened that day and the public would form their opinions based on his reporting. Today most people get their news from entertainers with a journalism degree, or exasperated comediennes who can't believe we get our news from them, and we can't even agree on the basic facts of what happened today without it devolving into a partisan pissing match.

KodyKeir posted...

It's not an assessment of the Mueller Report, it's an assessment of the coverage of the Mueller Report as part of the larger context of how the news is driven to be produced as entertainment rather then be a delivery of important information that we need to know.

Once upon a time, we would turn on the news and Walter Cronkite would tell us all the important events that happened that day and the public would form their opinions based on his reporting. Today most people get their news from entertainers with a journalism degree, or exasperated comediennes who can't believe we get our news from them, and we can't even agree on the basic facts of what happened today without it devolving into a partisan pissing match.

You can't properly assess the media coverage of the Mueller Report without actually assessing the contents of the Mueller Report.

1000x pundits have pontificated on the coverage of it being sensationalist (Russia fully controlled the 2016 election!) while providing cover for the the equally sensationalist counter-narrative that Donald Trump was fully exonerated.

Media being produced as entertainment isn't solved by creating more shallow entertainment surrounding it. I do not consider Stewart's present show to be a deep analysis show, I think it's shallow Liberal laughs before even getting to the meat of the matter.

Like, there is non-sensationalist coverage, if you decide to seek it out. So point it out instead of spending hours creating more media covering and mocking the sensationalist content. Such a circle-jerk.

ReturnOfFa posted...

there is non-sensationalist coverage

Is there? In America? OAN and NEWSMAX have allowed Fox to take the mask off and all the other networks are looking at the minute by minute ratings trying to keep their advertisers happy. I guess there is NPR, but right wing media has spent decades telling America that it's a communist entity that should not be trusted. The majority of America gets it's news from Fox, which, by their own admission in court filings, is an entertainment channel that no reasonable person would treat as news.

ReturnOfFa posted...

I do not consider Stewart's present show to be a deep analysis show,

Did you watch the episode or did you go "Oh, look, another show with Jon Stewart" and decide that that was what it was. Yeah, it's entertainment, it's certainly not 60 Minutes, but neither is 60 Minutes anymore. It's better then Bill Maher has been the past couple of years.

Between the removal of the fairness doctrine and the consolidation of ownership of local stations, (not to speak about the loss of newspapers as a medium) America has lost the ability to effectively communicate the news of the day to it's citizens, with many tuning out the news entirely. How do we as a society address that?

I would like to think we still can. There is a real possibility that we can't, that we have moved beyond the age where a civil society can operate and we are facing the decline and fall of Western civilization. This saddens me.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

So he's still being a hypocritical piece of shit then?

Not sure what you mean. This new show has been very well done.

ReturnOfFa posted...

Media being produced as entertainment isn't solved by creating more shallow entertainment surrounding it. I do not consider Stewart's present show to be a deep analysis show, I think it's shallow Liberal laughs before even getting to the meat of the matter.

They spend very little time on the comedy aspect of it all.

The opening monologue is entirely on the topic of the week, followed by a round table with two to three guests, then a one on one interview before some closing thoughts.

The first batch of episodes where shorter and had more comedy bits (the space race bit was super dumb and accurate) but the new batch are closer to an hour long and are a bit more serious in tone.

It's very much the Bill Maher format but without the ignorance that Bill brings to the subject matter. Bill has had a drop in quality in recent years, ever since Brad Grey's death, they did a shake up of the production team and whoever it was that was keeping Bill focused seems to no longer be with the team.

is that he isn't Hal Jordan

I would have liked to see John Diggle take up the ring, but WB won't let that happen.