5 ms·

At the end of the day it's a comedy show not a news show and his job is to make people laugh. You can't make people laugh with jokes about insider domain knowle

At the end of the day it's a comedy show not a news show and his job is to make people laugh. You can't make people laugh with jokes about insider domain knowledge only possessed by experts. If you consider the constraint that Last Week Tonight is primarily a comedy show themed around important newsworthy issues rather than an investigative journalism show it's hard to imagine it done any better.

pc86 10y ago
Agreed, but just because it's a comedy show doesn't mean that he can be factually inaccurate about things and not get called out on it.
partiallypro 10y ago
> At the end of the day it's a comedy show not a news show and his job is to make people laugh He and Jon Stewart keep (kept in the case of Jon) using this excuse when they get things wrong, but when they get things right they take all the glory they can get. The show(s) have to have some sort of accountability. For example Couric was just ripped for adding 6 seconds of dead air on a documentary....but that's literally what The Daily Show had been doing for years, making people look like idiots (so it fits their segment narrative). That's all good fun until you realize young people think people like Stewart and Oliver are trustworthy news sources. I like what they do in many cases, but I despise this excuse that it's "just" a comedy show. Maybe NBC nightly news should just add an in-studio audience that laughs and suddenly they can get away with every screw up.
- chrisseaton 10y ago
  > using this excuse when they get things wrong That's exactly what it is. It's the equivalent of those people on YouTube who assault someone and then say 'it was just a prank!' I think making fun of someone and trashing their reputation without being super careful to check all the facts first is really nasty and I don't like watching either of their shows.
  - ritchiea 10y ago
    That's incorrect, at the Daily Show they have a large fact checking team because they want their jokes to be based in fact. The Daily Show has also done apologies and retractions when they were incorrect. It is a comedy show but they are working hard to be correct, there's a great episode of NPR's Fresh Air where they speak with a Daily Show producer about exactly this issue. Edit: I have heard Stewart say "we're not the news" in response to questions like "Do you feel a responsibility to cover every important issue?" where "we're not the news" means they only cover issues they can make funny (an example of something perhaps too sad to make funny is the Flint water crisis)
- ritchiea 10y ago
  Can you give a specific example of someone who was manipulated to make look bad on the Daily Show? Most of their interviews are with people the host disagrees with but are happy to share their views (gun rights advocates, abortion rights advocates, etc). Typically guests and participants in segments are not being manipulated. I can't say it's never been done but it's certainly not an epidemic at that show.
  - partiallypro 10y ago
    You're joking right? The entire interview segments are spliced and edited. Pauses are added for comedic effect, they splice different questions with different answers. It's not a single example, it's literally every interview segment. That doesn't mean I agree with the person they are interviewing, or that that person isn't ignorant...but there is no way you can see their reporting as objective.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
  - danielford 10y ago
    Here's a news article about this and how to avoid it if you ever have to go on a program like the Daily Show. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2014-09-23/don-t-ever-appear-on-the-daily-show https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2014-09-23/don-t-eve...
  - BallinBige 10y ago
    Never gets old: http://www.cc.com/video-clips/6p62fp/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-the-deer-hunter http://www.cc.com/video-clips/6p62fp/the-daily-show-with-jon... Jason Jones talks to two hunters, a non-fatal hunter and a fatal hunter, to see what method is better. (4:33)
- Blackthorn 10y ago
  > He and Jon Stewart keep (kept in the case of Jon) using this excuse when they get things wrong, but when they get things right they take all the glory they can get. It's not meant to be an excuse, it's meant to be an accusation. If a comedy show is so much better at news than a news show, that's a major failing on the part of actual news shows.
  - partiallypro 10y ago
    In some cases they are better, in other cases they are immensely worse; especially during their taped interview segments. But when we compare "news" most people are looking at 24/7 cable "news" which is full of commentators that are told to say outrageous things and to argue, for the purpose of ratings. That's usually where The Daily Show, et all get their meat. The irony of the Daily Show is that while critiquing cable news commentary it often does the -exact- same thing, but they cover it as if they are the objective ones. To their credit, on cable news, you already know everyone's bias if you're a regular viewer. The Daily Show et al, on the other hand, do not; which gives the illusion of objectivity.
  - peg_leg 10y ago
    It's not a major failing, but instead the way it has always worked. The court jester was always the one that was the most accurate because he was able to temper the bad news with comedy such that even the king would approve. The guy that said 'hear-ye' would get his head cut off for the same thing. And no, I don't have sources, this is observation off the cuff and strictly my opinion.
- pentae 10y ago
  Accountability? What about accountability from FOX news, CNN and all the other programs that do an even worse job and aren't comedy shows? Shouldn't they be accountable first and foremost?
xviia 10y ago
The show is interesting because it combines a late night talk show format with a news format. Their special segments are often in the same format as a nightly news program, where they take an issue, perform research, and prevent a side. Should we hold these types of shows to a talk show standard or a news standard? When CBS presented a fabricated military report about George W., they were rightly condemned for presenting false information and presenting it as fact. If, instead, the fabricated document had been shown on John Oliver, would we think it's OK simply because John Oliver is partly comedy?
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > The show is interesting because it combines a late night talk show format with a news format. As with The Daily Show, The Nightly Show, and the (former) Colbert Report, among others, the format is a variation of the format of a mixed news/commentary show of the type that is the staple of the cable news networks, and they all use that format because they are parodies of that kind of show.
chrisseaton 10y ago
Have you ever heard the phrase 'it's funny because it's true'? If he's not going to actually consider the facts, why make jokes about current affairs rather than just totally making things up?
- talmand 10y ago
  But sometimes it's funnier when it's not true, which some "trusted as news" comedy shows are well known for.
  - chrisseaton 10y ago
    I think it's basically bullying. I'm sure bullying people is more funny than being nice for the bullies as well.
return0 10y ago
Its a news show for many. If it were satire it wouldnt be so one-sided.
Yhippa 10y ago
Just like Fox News a lot of people have difficulty differentiating "news" from "entertainment". The line is so blurred.

pc86 10y ago

Agreed, but just because it's a comedy show doesn't mean that he can be factually inaccurate about things and not get called out on it.

partiallypro 10y ago

> At the end of the day it's a comedy show not a news show and his job is to make people laugh He and Jon Stewart keep (kept in the case of Jon) using this excuse when they get things wrong, but when they get things right they take all the glory they can get. The show(s) have to have some sort of accountability. For example Couric was just ripped for adding 6 seconds of dead air on a documentary....but that's literally what The Daily Show had been doing for years, making people look like idiots (so it fits their segment narrative). That's all good fun until you realize young people think people like Stewart and Oliver are trustworthy news sources. I like what they do in many cases, but I despise this excuse that it's "just" a comedy show. Maybe NBC nightly news should just add an in-studio audience that laughs and suddenly they can get away with every screw up.

chrisseaton 10y ago
> using this excuse when they get things wrong That's exactly what it is. It's the equivalent of those people on YouTube who assault someone and then say 'it was just a prank!' I think making fun of someone and trashing their reputation without being super careful to check all the facts first is really nasty and I don't like watching either of their shows.
- ritchiea 10y ago
  That's incorrect, at the Daily Show they have a large fact checking team because they want their jokes to be based in fact. The Daily Show has also done apologies and retractions when they were incorrect. It is a comedy show but they are working hard to be correct, there's a great episode of NPR's Fresh Air where they speak with a Daily Show producer about exactly this issue. Edit: I have heard Stewart say "we're not the news" in response to questions like "Do you feel a responsibility to cover every important issue?" where "we're not the news" means they only cover issues they can make funny (an example of something perhaps too sad to make funny is the Flint water crisis)
ritchiea 10y ago
Can you give a specific example of someone who was manipulated to make look bad on the Daily Show? Most of their interviews are with people the host disagrees with but are happy to share their views (gun rights advocates, abortion rights advocates, etc). Typically guests and participants in segments are not being manipulated. I can't say it's never been done but it's certainly not an epidemic at that show.
- partiallypro 10y ago
  You're joking right? The entire interview segments are spliced and edited. Pauses are added for comedic effect, they splice different questions with different answers. It's not a single example, it's literally every interview segment. That doesn't mean I agree with the person they are interviewing, or that that person isn't ignorant...but there is no way you can see their reporting as objective.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- danielford 10y ago
  Here's a news article about this and how to avoid it if you ever have to go on a program like the Daily Show. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2014-09-23/don-t-ever-appear-on-the-daily-show https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2014-09-23/don-t-eve...
- BallinBige 10y ago
  Never gets old: http://www.cc.com/video-clips/6p62fp/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-the-deer-hunter http://www.cc.com/video-clips/6p62fp/the-daily-show-with-jon... Jason Jones talks to two hunters, a non-fatal hunter and a fatal hunter, to see what method is better. (4:33)
Blackthorn 10y ago
> He and Jon Stewart keep (kept in the case of Jon) using this excuse when they get things wrong, but when they get things right they take all the glory they can get. It's not meant to be an excuse, it's meant to be an accusation. If a comedy show is so much better at news than a news show, that's a major failing on the part of actual news shows.
- partiallypro 10y ago
  In some cases they are better, in other cases they are immensely worse; especially during their taped interview segments. But when we compare "news" most people are looking at 24/7 cable "news" which is full of commentators that are told to say outrageous things and to argue, for the purpose of ratings. That's usually where The Daily Show, et all get their meat. The irony of the Daily Show is that while critiquing cable news commentary it often does the -exact- same thing, but they cover it as if they are the objective ones. To their credit, on cable news, you already know everyone's bias if you're a regular viewer. The Daily Show et al, on the other hand, do not; which gives the illusion of objectivity.
- peg_leg 10y ago
  It's not a major failing, but instead the way it has always worked. The court jester was always the one that was the most accurate because he was able to temper the bad news with comedy such that even the king would approve. The guy that said 'hear-ye' would get his head cut off for the same thing. And no, I don't have sources, this is observation off the cuff and strictly my opinion.
pentae 10y ago
Accountability? What about accountability from FOX news, CNN and all the other programs that do an even worse job and aren't comedy shows? Shouldn't they be accountable first and foremost?

xviia 10y ago

The show is interesting because it combines a late night talk show format with a news format. Their special segments are often in the same format as a nightly news program, where they take an issue, perform research, and prevent a side. Should we hold these types of shows to a talk show standard or a news standard? When CBS presented a fabricated military report about George W., they were rightly condemned for presenting false information and presenting it as fact. If, instead, the fabricated document had been shown on John Oliver, would we think it's OK simply because John Oliver is partly comedy?

dragonwriter 10y ago
> The show is interesting because it combines a late night talk show format with a news format. As with The Daily Show, The Nightly Show, and the (former) Colbert Report, among others, the format is a variation of the format of a mixed news/commentary show of the type that is the staple of the cable news networks, and they all use that format because they are parodies of that kind of show.

chrisseaton 10y ago

Have you ever heard the phrase 'it's funny because it's true'? If he's not going to actually consider the facts, why make jokes about current affairs rather than just totally making things up?

talmand 10y ago
But sometimes it's funnier when it's not true, which some "trusted as news" comedy shows are well known for.
- chrisseaton 10y ago
  I think it's basically bullying. I'm sure bullying people is more funny than being nice for the bullies as well.

return0 10y ago

Its a news show for many. If it were satire it wouldnt be so one-sided.

Yhippa 10y ago

Just like Fox News a lot of people have difficulty differentiating "news" from "entertainment". The line is so blurred.