Totes blogging, at the mome.

In the blur of biased news shows, it is sometimes hard to figure out if you’re watching a so-called “fair and balanced” news program, or a comedy news show. For this blog, I examined the way the Daily Show and Mainstream News reported on the current “Tea Party Protests” going on around the country. These Tea Party Protests were mostly held on or around tax day, protesting that taxes are too high. The Daily Show and Mainstream reports were so different that it almost seemed as though they weren’t reporting on the same story. However, that not being the case, it is clear that both types of shows have different agendas when it came to reporting the event.

First of all, these two types of stations focus on very different aspects of the protests. The Daily Show mostly focuses on the inaccuracies of the protesters. Fox News mostly focuses on their “patriotism.” MSNBC spent a lot of time coyly poking fun at the protesters by calling them “tea baggers” and talking about them “tea bagging.” After seeing footage of the event on Fox News, it was clear that the protestors were doing a great job of pushing Fox’s anti-Obama Administration agenda; therefore, they were glorifying the protesters. Seeing it on MSNBC, it was clear that the protesters did not stand for the, let’s be honest, very liberal views of Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, so they were making fun of them in a, in my opinion, hilarious way. However, on The Daily Show, though still from a liberal point of view, John Stewart would have footage of the Tea Parties and their protesters, but question each shot. For example, he had a video of many protesters (and, actually, a Fox News anchor) calling Obama a Fascist. He had footage of them using babies as props in their protest. Finally, a shot of a ridiculous looking woman dressed in a body suit to look as though she were Barack Obama in his underwear holding a mutilated Elmo. He went on to point out that these extreme accusations and radical displays of protesting were often things conservatives scorned liberals for in their protest. Also, he went one step further sending out a reporter into the field challenging these radical accusations in a funny, non-aggressive way.

Also, The Daily Show spends a lot of time describing MSNBC, CNN, And Fox News’ ironically different ways of reporting on the event, something Mainstream media (aside from the back-and fourth MSNBC/Fox News bickering) does not often do. John Stewart, in a funny and thought-provoking way, points out how backward the Mainstream News stations seem to be when reporting this event. Fox News, who they had footage of scorning protesters, were all of a sudden all for fighting “The Man,” a stance CNN more often than not takes. However, in the Tea Parties, CNN reporters are being combative and aggressive with the protesters telling them that their protest doesn’t really make much sense. Finally, humorously, John Stewart goes on to point out that, in the context of the Tea Parties, MSNBC has turned into the Daily Show because of their plethora of “scrotum jokes” about tea bagging. You do not get this type of social commentary on mainstream media news shows.

I when comparing the two types of news broadcasts, it’s important to note the benefits and limits of each. Shows like the Daily Show visibly has less loyalty and responsibility to certain political parties and corporations. Because of this, they are able to comment and say things that other mainstream news shows cant. Rachel Smolkin, in her article, “What the Mainstream Media Can Learn From Jon Stewart,” writes of Hub Brown’s reaction to certain parts of the Daily Show. ‘“There are days when I stand up and point to the TV and say, 'You're damn right!'” It’s not often one gets this type of reaction to mainstream news shows because they are more constrained in their commentary. However, something the Daily Show lacks is even remotely unbiased reporting.

On the other side of the story, mainstream media, since they are more serious about their reporting, obviously give a lot more factual information than the Daily Show does. However, mainstream media limits itself in the fact that many outlets manipulate these facts to support their way of thinking. Also, when mainstream media tries to make it more interesting by using things like citizen journalism, it often makes mainstream news less reliable. As Reyhan Harmanci discusses in his article, “CNN discovers the downside of ‘citizen journalism,” people often post fake news and it affects the credibility of the mainstream news, who are supposed to be extremely credible.

In a way, I do feel like this is an unfair comparison. People, generally, do not count of the Daily show to say informed on the issues of the day since it is a comedy show. The Daily Show does not HAVE TO be informative or factual or any of the sorts because it is a comedy show. However, they do decide on their own to be informative at times and can prove to be a refreshing, truthful voice in a sea of mainstream B.S. We expect mainstream news to be hard-hitting, factual, and extremely informative. We only EXPECT the Daily Show to be funny. In that way, they aren’t comparable. However, since the Daily Show often decides to be informative, that is just a plus.