For homework today we had to write three Toulim sentences, one about faux news such as the Daily show. Since I have never seen the show before, I watched a clip on you tube. I found it hilarious when it made fun of politicians and the stupid things politicians do, for example , the John Edward's scandal. Though, some things they say are not good taste. The clip made me think about how much freedom we as americans have, in that we can openly criticize our leaders. But do we reserve the right to mock people? Some people believe that it is disrespectful to call our nations leaders, such as the President an idiot. Does comedy television shows go to far? Has freedom of speech become the freedom of harassment?
Ashley Hill
8 comments:
I totally agree, while yes I think it's funny to hear jokes made about poltics, I also believe that many comedians take it way too far. Some things that are said should not be shown on public television for the world to see.
-Callie
I agree that The Daily Show is hilarious, but it is very liberally biased, which is or is not good (depending on your political views). Some young people (college age) tend to use it as their main source for information on current events.
Umm.. I don’t think labeling President Bush as an idiot is an expression of harassment (not necessarily implying that the statement stands true..). I think when certain people become public icons, they realize who their audience is and the types of comments that they might receive regardless of what they do, and they grow accustomed to them. Therefore, the definition and degree of harassment should probably be slightly different for a public figure than for someone you know on a personal level. In most cases, when people criticize a political leader (especially when calling him ‘an idiot’ or anything of that sort), they are usually referring to him as what he is and not who he is (does that make sense?), and I think that makes the comments both less personal and less meaningful to an extent that it ceases to be harassment.
I’ve never seen the Daily Show before haha, but to your other question- I definitely agree that some of the stuff on comedy shows are unnecessary since they can be offensive even to the general public.
Although at times these types of shows may go to far with their criticism and mocking, I still believe they are a good addition to television. They give people the oppurtunity to learn about what is going on in politics and the world from a source that may be easier to understand. Some people only get their information from these types of shows, which I think is misleading, but hearing even a comical version of the news is better than nothing.
--Alexis
Sometimes when leaders or high up politicians are mocked, it puts things in a different light. I really don't think that it's wrong at all to criticize them because the First Amendment reserves all of our rights to do so. Over the course of all of our lives I'm sure that we've all been made fun of to some extent so it's no different. I also agree with Michael that the Daily Show and other shows in the media are very liberal, which is the only main problem with shows such as these. If there were a more even keel political show, I wouldn't have any problem with it.
-Joe
I agree that some of these shows take criticisms too far, especially because The Daily Show appeals to the younger population. Most of these young people aren't watching the "real" news so they are getting their information exclusively from these liberal shows making fun of the President, which isn't exactly fair. I think these shows are helpful to give the gist of current events, but to have a well rounded view of what's going on in the world you have to watch the actual news that shows both sides.
-Sammi
Their is no such thing as too much criticism. Criticism helps see the errors in something. I'd actually like to see how TDS goes too far in criticism. They don't even ask to be taken seriously, just provide laughs.
Daily Show has repeatedly stated they only make fun of those in power, it just happens that republicans are in power at the moment. Their only bias is comedy, they've made fun of democratic politicians too. Especially during the late 90's when almost no one watched the show.
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