"When news breaks, we fix it": The
Daily Show Online
By Christa Starr
According to a poll from Roper Starch Worldwide, 69 percent of adults
get the majority of their news from television. I must confess, I
count myself part of that group. And as shameful as it is to admit
that most of my news intake comes through the "idiot box,"
even more frightening is that most of what I do see doesn't come from
the traditional network news programs. I have honestly never watched
60 Minutes, Dateline, The CBS Evening News, or
The Today Show. Like many others of my generation, I have chosen
to keep up-to-date by following "The Most Important Television
Program… EVER!"
Yep, I watch The Daily Show.
Now, for those who have no idea what I'm talking about, The Daily
Show is Comedy Central's take on a news show - stories that are
based on real world happenings, but with a twist. For example, when
a major news story on the 21st birthday of the ozone hole was released,
The Daily Show showed its baby pictures. When AT&T announced
a new $100 million ad campaign, The Daily Show equated it to
"the price of six collect calls." And now, as if the television
show weren't enough, they have launched their own complementary web
site.
In a time where journalistic integrity is compromised by the explosive
profitability of gossip reporting, when the majority of all TV news
programs are owned by one of six massive media conglomerates, The
Daily Show unabashedly flaunts the conventions and assumptions
of traditional news by injecting every story with wit and sarcasm.
The web site follows proudly in its parent's footsteps. Unlike other
comedic news sites like The Onion which create completely fictional
articles, The Daily Show Online's stories always contain the
bare minimum of facts, easily verified by visiting any other news
site, before adding the distinctive Daily Show twist. A current
article on the recent Seattle Earthquake, for example, reports, "Seismologists
found the quake's epicenter in Olympia, Washington a mere 35 miles
from downtown Seattle. The quake shattered windows and showered bricks
onto the sidewalks, where hordes of unemployed web content providers
scrambled to get crushed beneath them."
While this type of reporting does not provide in-depth expose of
Dateline or the thorough research of 60 Minutes, it
does manage to get the basic facts across. And by not diving too deeply
into any story, the show manages to keep its intentions clear. I never
have to worry about whose bias and prejudices I'm hearing, because
I know that, beyond the basics, EVERYTHING they tell me is biased.
Towards humor.
In design, the site closely resembles most other news websites, with
a large area in the center for the top headline of the day, and headers
for major sections like Business, Politics, Sports, Music and Technology.
However, to avoid any potential confusion with more serious reporting
sites, the Comedy Central menu bar is permanently affixed to the left
hand side of the screen, reminding us where the site came from and
not to take the contents too seriously. And considering how dire most
mainstream television news stories are these days, I find that very
comforting.