John Stewart and The Daily Show as Satire

1. John Stewart and The Daily Show as Satire Mr. Moccia

2. Introduction • The end result of this project is two-fold: • To become better “recognizers” of the satire around us • To become expert analyzers of satire • This project is not simply about saying, “Look, here’s satire;” it’s about saying, “Look, here’s satire, and let me explain to you how the satirist is attempting to convey his ideas.” • Hence, analysis of the techniques is key

3. Differences between MY project and YOUR project • I have more info/details than you need. I make a lot of notes for you to consider when making your project, notes you won’t need to put on your project. • Therefore, I don’t use any many images as I think you should, simply because I don’t have the space.

4. The John Stewart Show • A few things about John Stewart • A few things about The Daily Show, especially its normal political purposes

5. The Subject • The media’s tendency to take “hearsay” and turn it into “facts” when it fits their political purpose • In particular, Stewart is addressing FOX News and its anti-Obama stance

6. Type of Satire? • Horacian • It’s lighthearted, comical – it pokes fun • It is making a serious point, considering how much media affects the public’s opinion of our world and country • But it isn’t bitter or angry

7. Devices 1: Humor • Example: The basic flow of the media clips, with all of their exaggerations, alongside Stewart’s response and delivery, is intended to be funny • Purpose: The humor is what invites the audience in – but more importantly, the humor is intended to show the audience that what the media does is essentially comical • (Humor often takes what is presented as serious and puts it in the realm of the comical, in order to reveal its actual comical nature)

8. 2: Comic Juxtaposition • One Example: TV Glen Beck vs. Radio Glen Beck • Purpose: • To show the inner contradictoriness of the opinions stated • To reveal how the media takes something that might be true and presents is as true • (Juxtaposition puts things side by side, in order to show differences; juxtaposition in satire is often comical: when you put two things side by side and they’re funny, this can often point to some underlying actualproblem.)

9. 3: Parody • Example: Indian media man • Purpose: As a parody, the situation on The Daily Show is an exaggerated version of what FOX News did, hence it reveals the flaws of FOX News • The “haggling of the news” in the clip is compared to the not-as-obvious “haggling” done by FOX • (Parody often uses exaggeration; exaggerating something often exaggerates its flaws, and makes them more obvious.)

10. 4: Absurdity • Example: When Stewart reveals the source of the information, it reveals the absurdity of the original FOX newscasts he showed at the beginning of the episode • Purpose: This reveals, quite simply, the absurdity of the FOX News process • (Conveying absurdity goes a long way in trying to convince someone that something is wrong.)

11. What’s wrong in society? • FOX News • Media’s tendency (not just FOX) to run with stories on account of their political purpose and not because of their veracity • Indirectly, the public is mocked for simply taking news from the media as fact

12. What is hoped to be achieved? • Stewart probably assumes he isn’t going to change FOX News, or the media in general, although he might hope for this • But there still is practical purpose here: Stewart wants the general public to THINK when listening to or watching the media

13. Stewart says to public… • Don’t believe things simply because they’re on the news • Recognize the political affiliation of news organizations when parsing through the news • Be a discerning, reasonable, skeptical, logical American