“Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth”—Lillian Hellman. For as many controversial thoughts, actions, or ideologies, there has been cynicism. Politics is no exception. Americans criticize the news media for shaping their broadcasts towards left wing ideologies or right wing conservatism. Jon Stewart is one of those critics. He is a political cynic. On his The Daily Show, Stewart lashes back at what he believes to be injustices or ridiculousness’ within the media—whether they concern Presidential candidates or John Doe from Nowhere, Ohio. Shows like The Daily Show, and Stewart’s protégé Stephen Colbert’s The Colbert Report, though designed to look like real newscasts, are not. They use visual and aural codes to perceive to be broadcast news programs to its viewers, whom upon analyzing the content of the shows should realize their satirical values. In Robert Hariman’s In Defense of Jon Stewart, it is argued that “By contrast, the single most telling characteristic of the prosecution case is that they are completely tone deaf regarding the parodic and satiric character of the show. They can’t see it or value it or enjoy it for what it is. As a result, there is a comprehensive misrecognition of what is there” (Hariman 274). Hariman plainly argues that if viewers take the time to recognize what The Daily Show is then they can enjoy its parody without questioning Stewart’s morals.*

Indecision 2000 was a Daily Show special concerning the Presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Stewart, along with his “reporters” (co-stars), created a mock newscast of the kind of coverage that the ‘hanging chad’ debacle was getting within the media. In the November 27 episode of the series, Stewart remarks on the overload of coverage by beginning the show saying “But first, oh and I know you’re craving this, continuing coverage of Indecision 2000,” which is interspersed with laughs from the audience members. This suggests that the audience does not want to hear any more about the presidential election, but as it is Jon Stewart’s job to ‘report’ on such, he covers the information in a satirical way.

“Reporting the news involves selection and interpretation,” (George 4). In Reading the News, Diana George and John Trimbur argue “the news media select which events to report and which aspects of those stories to emphasize,” (5). With this in mind, why should Jon Stewart and The Daily Show be any different? **Stewart picks what he covers and how he covers it—but it is in his cynical and satirical way that it does not qualify as an actual news story (journalism after all has laws concerning balance, truth, and independence). Those who criticize Stewart should step back from his product and realize The Daily Show for what it is. Jon Stewart is throwing the news media’s information back in its face. He’s in a sense saying, here’s what you should have really said, and the public laughs with me.***

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-november-27-2000/indecision-2000—usurp-the-vote

(Sorry for the link, the video is copywrighted and only available on The Daily Show’s website)

I would like to use the video in the above link to explore specific visual and aural codes that make this satirical program appear to be a real newscast to its viewers. First, “The codes of television news are the ways television sends messages to viewers so that they recognize what they see on the news as real events that have taken place in the world… In the case of television news, viewing involves putting reality together sight and sound — or the visual, verbal, and aural codes that identify this type of program,” (George 15). In their article Reading the News, Diana George and John Trimbur argue that broadcast news programs subscribe to specific visual and aural details to represent a professional, truthful, and trustworthy newscast.****

Visual codes are used both by Stewart and in network newscasts.

Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

Brian Williams, NBC News

Notice the similarities in these two images. Both anchors are sitting at a news desk. There is a set in the background that usually is patriotic, shows a location, or displays the title of the program. Both men wear dark suits and ties, have their hair well done, and have a smile of candor on their face. There are also technical aspects of both programs that visually represent a newscast. Both NBC and The Daily Show use OTS boxes (over the shoulder) to display an image for an upcoming story, both use lowers (the title at the bottom of the screen) to identify their corresponding reporters and to give titles to their stories. Both use simple cuts to transition from shot to shot, there are no dissolves. And both use medium and close up shots to frame the anchors and reporters. When The Daily Show uses the same visual coding system that news broadcasts subscribe to, they can appear to viewers as an informative news program.

Aural codes are used both by Stewart and in network newscasts. As described in Reading the News, “Notice, for example, the music that introduces and closes the evening news. It is breif but dramatic–like an announcement that says, ‘Pay attention. Something serious and important is about to happen.’ The music works in conjunction with the news anchor’s voice–usually serious and low (even if the anchor is a woman)–and with the headlines and video footage that appear on screen. It all happens together so quickly that you may notice only that the evening news just came on. These are common television news codes that work together to take viewers into the special domain of the nightly news show” (George 15).

http://www.slashcontrol.com/free-tv-shows/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/1750804909-intro-balloon-boy-is-safe

“Reading the News” discuses how the news media shapes news and the ways in which it is sold and told for viewers, readers, and Internet users. The number one responsibility of a journalist is to tell the truth and the second responsibility it to do this effectively for citizens relying on the information (Kovach and Rosenstiel). News is a medium in which information is passed from those who have it to those who want it. Those who have the power to pass information must code it in a way that can be effective for the most amounts of people. This means that there are strategies of appropriate communication of news. Jon Stewart and The Daily Show use formats and technologies comparative to broadcast news programming to produce a mock-newscast. Stewart does well to use technologies to show the public a news event and portray it as so they believe it to be true, as the visual and aural coding of his program suggest that of a network news broadcast. His cynicism is not gone unnoticed, but is also taken with a grain of salt. The Daily Show is not an undermining of modern news media outlets, rather it should be used to supplement legitimate broadcast news sources, or better yet as comedic relief.

George, Diana, and John Trimbur. “Reading the News.” Reading Culture: Contexts for

Critical Reading and Writing. 5th ed. New York: Longman, 2003. 7-42.

Hariman, Robert. “In Defense of Jon Stewart.” Critical Studies in Media Communication.

Vol. 24, No. 3. 2007. 273-277.

I morgen rejser min lille familie og jeg til Marokko. Min søn skal møde sin fars familie, og jeg skal mæske mig i svigermors grillede sardiner og auberginepuré, sådan som jeg gerne gør det hver sommer. Der er visse ulemper ved at rejse til Marokko i sommermånederne (varmen for eksempel), men det har nu også sin charme. Blandt andet får man mulighed for at overvære den årlige tronfest, der fejres den 30. juli, og ikke mindst forberedelserne til den. Op til den store begivenhed er der en vældig aktivitet langs alle indfaldsvejene til hovedstaden Rabat, hvor kongens palads udgør den nationale højtids natulige centrum. Græsplaner klippes, fortovskanter males, marokkanske flag og portrætter af kong Mohammed VI sættes op. Alt i alt er der tale om et godt eksempel på det Robert Hariman i den tankevækkende og velskrevne bog Political Style: The Artistry of Power (1995) betegner hofstilen (the courtly style).

Hariman identificerer hofstilen via en analyse af den polske journalist Ryszard Kapuscinskis værk om den etiopiske kejser Haile Selassie. Kapuscinski – og med ham Hariman – indfanger rammende (s)tilstanden ved det etopiske hof i historien om tisselakajen (the pee lackey), der havde til opgave at tørre op, når kejserens hund tissede på hofmændenes sko – den uheldige, der fik fugtet tæerne, måtte absolut ikke lade sig mærke med noget. På baggrund af analysen konkluderer Hariman, at hofstilen har tre centrale træk: “the courtly style is centered on the body of the sovereign, displaces speech with gesture, and culminates in immobility” (p. 4).

I Mohammed VI’s palads gemmer der sig næppe en tisselakaj, men forberedelserne til tronfesten halter ikke meget efter den pomp og pragt, der omgav Haile Selassie ved hans hof. Den marokkanske konge udtrykker ellers en stor reformivrighed, hvilket står i kontrast til den fortsatte brug af hofstilen med dens indbyggede konservatisme.  Jeg håber derfor, at hofstilen kun for alvor luftes i forbindelse med tronfesten, og ikke også er så dominerende resten af året, at det marokkanske samfund størkner helt.