Free Essay Example. Informed Comedy

The research of Ian Reily on informed comedy is that news parody tends to create a more informed public by conducting interrogations on the officials, authoritative discourses that dominate the flow of public discussion as the dominant news media outlets frame it. I agree with Ian on the nature of informed comedy because the attack of ready-made truths through deploying humour and satire makes the news parody to push the logic of news discourse to logical extremes. It also helps in revealing the limitations and shortcomings of their stories. The paper will argue what current week authors will have to say about the last week's authors.

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The public is for the opinion that there exists fault news organization for perceived failures where most of them criticize for political biasness, inaccuracy and inability to acknowledge mistakes (Reilly, 2011). The public has increasingly been dissatisfied about the way the news media conducts its operations and the information they have to report since the news parody has incited much-needed reevaluation of the relationship between journalism and politics and civic culture.

The current week authors are bent to make it right with the news of their colleagues from the last week. They will consider the news parody to be an essential vehicle for critiquing the news form as well as content in their interest to reveal their inner workings of the genre and expand the capacity of the audience to think critically about the news and the information it consumes (Ones, 2010). They will have to try and keep the sustained attacks from the public in the previous week at bay by being in line with the accepted values, ideologies and conventions.

Ian gives the example of a satirical weekly named "The Onion" that covered a story on election fraud that meant to shed light on some problems of a shift towards digital voting. It involved exposing the Diebold Corporation, which is a significant player in the implementation of electronic voting machines, where the company released the results of the 2008 presidential elections ten months even before the Election Day.

The story covered parodic news that brings the sharper relief of the potential threats of the electronic voting process, which the public believe is the solution to their problems because it is meant to be more accurate. They certainly have no trust with the fundamental democratic process that is supposed to be on the front line, ensuring that there is no rigging. The covering of such a story led to more concerns regarding the implementation and use of such machines. Some states went on to ban digital voting in their areas, and others improved their security and reliability features.

The story by "the onion" was successful in addressing the issues surrounding the electoral fraud to the foreground of public discourse. The public reacts to such news by reimagining the future of the same. They can expect the worst or the reporters of the following weeks can make things right by the critical reflection of the previous week that helps to ease the way they deliver news and what precisely the public needs to know. The media needs to sensitize on the reports they publish and the evidence they provide for the same because the public will react in every manner while asking relevant questions that they should answer.

The public is accustomed to reading about war, famine, civil unrest and political corruption as well as a general global crisis which are the ever-present problems that the media presents without any solutions. Ian argues that reporting these stories in a register is rarely deployed in journalistic coverage. The conventional news story delivers information according to a prescribed set of recognizable editorial standards (Hoffman & Young, 2011). This way, the news parody tend to enjoy greater leverage in telling a story in a variety of ways. It is such that the presenters in the present week build on the stories in the previous week while adding more information that the public would want to hear.

In most of the cases, satirical reporters create the interplay between reality and fantasy. This way, they are able to reimagine the contemporary issues and the debates they need to frame their news constructively. It is in a bid to lay the groundwork for social and political change. Using such satire also helps the reader to reimagine the other forms and practices of journalism that are possible within the politics and entertainment context.

I support Ian in the discussion of informed comedy from the debate he presents because he suggests that the news parody is a crucial factor in the transmission of news media. He argues that the news parody consists of a useful pedagogical tool for journalist's conventions and new discourse examination (Reilly, 2010). Similarly, the news parody tends to create a robust framework for the building of interpretive skills as well as capacities for bolstering critical thinking. The growth of the news parody's influence and popularity among the young people, the form continues to serve as a useful tool for teaching literacy skills in media and expanding the understanding of journalism.

Mary Francoli also advances her discussion concerning informed comedy. She describes the issue of mock news shows where she identifies the arguments to support the idea that the mock report informs. The underlying assertion is that there is value in the mock report that is beyond fulfilling a desire of being entertained.

Mary claims that it is true that mock news makes for an informed public. The public may be willing to pay more attention when political issues are packaged and presented in an entertaining fashion (Mary, 2007). The reason is that such a method of packaging dramatically reduces the cognitive costs of paying attention (Baum, 2011). The bottom line is that political interviews made on mock news are likely to be more informal compared to the discussions occurring with mainstream news media.

Mock news has a democratizing effect where the media portray that the interviews in the mock press that resemble the interviews with traditional media have become a means through political leaders communicate with the public and reach an audience that does not consume conventional hard news. The current week authors will look for more mock news to inform because they believe that in trying to appeal to the public, it is the only means.

The political leaders, as well as political hopefuls, continue to increasingly gravitate towards the venues of mock news (Warner, 2010). They are now an essential part of the public relations toolbox. I do not support Mary in the discussion because the concentration of mock news does not adequately inform but also reduces the critical assessment of voters of the candidates. After all, it may prompt the politically unaware of basing their votes on the likeability of a candidate.

Another argument against focusing on mock news is that they are filled with criticism because of the lack of depth or substance out of the information more generally. When reporters parody the traditional hard news, the mock news will emphasize on jokers and entertainment value while they are meant to impart knowledge. They present very selective information. This way, it rarely gives the viewers a way to appreciate the diversity that they find in traditional news (Hess, 2011). The mock report also tries to maximize the comedic appeal and popularity hence engaging in various techniques and practices that have the potential to mislead or misinform the viewers.

In framing to support the goal of comedy, mock news draw attention to inaccuracies and problems with mainstream news. This way, the mock news allow the readers to think critically about the information that the media presents (Wiesman, 2011). The consideration of mock news is that journalists should pose questions to the politicians at news conferences where their answer is drawn from the footage taken from a separate event. This way, the audience can recognize the comic frame to the success of mock news. However, it is not ideal for framing prompts for people to reconsider and question the impact because it is beyond entertainment.

In conclusion, informed comedy is that news parody tends to create a more informed public by conducting interrogations on the officials, authoritative discourses that dominate the flow of public discussion as the dominant news media outlets frame it. It is unlike the debate on mock news where they draw attention to inaccuracies and problems with the mainstream press.

References

Baum, M. (2011). How soft news brings policy issues to the inattentive public. In D. Graber (Ed), Media power in politics (pp. 113-128). Washington, DC: C.Q. press.

Hess, A. (2011). Breaking news. A postmodern rhetorical analysis of the Daily Show. In T. Goodnow (Ed,), The Daily Show and Rhetoric: Arguments, Issues and Strategies (pp. 168-186).

Hoffman, L.H., & Young D.G., (2011). Satire, punch lines and the mightly news. Untangling media effects on political participation. Communication Research Reports, 28(2), 159-168.

Ian Reilly (2011). Informed Comedy: Do mock news shows make for a more informed public-Communication Studies Department at Concordia University?

Mary Francoli (2007). Informed Comedy: Do mock news shows make for a more informed public-Carleton University's school of Journalism and Communication?

Ones, J.P (2010). Entertaining politics: Satiric television and political engagement (2nd ed.) Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Reilly, I. (2010). Satirical fake news and the politics of the fifth estate. University of Guelph, Ontario.

Warner, J. (2010). The Daily Show and the politics of truth. In T.M. Dale & J.J. Foy (Eds), Homer Simpson marches on Washington: Dissent through American popular culture (pp. 37-58)

Wiesman, P. (2011). We frame to please. A preliminary examination of the Daily Show's use of the frame. In T. Goodnow (Ed.), The Daily Show and Rhetoric: Arguments, Issues and Strategies (pp. 144-167).