Media Literacy Effects of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Summaries of Communication

Download Media Literacy Effects of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and more Summaries Communication in PDF only on Docsity! Media Literacy Effects of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart By Jonan Donaldson The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has an educational effect in terms of media literacy. The show has for many years spent considerable time deconstructing media messages and making critical thinking concerning such messages a central theme. The show influences beliefs not only concerning political issues, but also influences beliefs concerning mainstream media. Jon Stewart regularly addresses the core concepts of media literacy: 1. All media messages are constructed. 2. Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules. 3. Different people experience the same media message differently. 4. Media have embedded values and points of view. 5. Most media messages are organized to gain profit and/or power. (Thoman, 2008 This essay will point to the pedagogical function of The Daily Show, although there are related shows with a similar capacity to educate such as The Colbert Report. In these shows, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert "are making a contribution to media ethics by serving as media critics" (Borden & Tew, 2007). Watching The Daily Show regularly can be as educational in terms of media literacy as an undergraduate-level media literacy class. All Media Messages are Constructed The Daily Show consistently points to the constructedness of all media, including itself. "Stewart gives us insight into the very constructedness of his mediated form and style, and one’s voice itself as always potentially prone to errors. Not only does Stewart imagine the world in many ways, but he adroitly calls attention to these very imaginings. As such, his communication is highly pluralistic and reflexive" (Waisanen, 2009). Although politicians are the primary target of critical analysis, much of the content of The Daily Show is aimed squarely at the media and the journalists who traditionally have been viewed as the most objective aspect of the media. "Stewart and Colbert use the flawed performances of journalists to criticize journalists’ integrity" (Borden & Tew, 2007). By doing so, Stewart plays the role of educator. The educational success of this form of media literacy education has been confirmed by a study which found that "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart . . . [is] significantly related to respondents 18-25 saying they were less likely to trust what news organizations say" (Fox, et al, 2010). Media Messages are Constructed Using a Creative Language with its Own Rules One of the ways The Daily Show teaches media literacy is by making the language and rules of journalism explicit through breaking those rules. "The Daily Show is the best critical media literacy program on television. It brilliantly and humorously critiques the mainstream media's political news coverage, as well as its journalistic conventions" (Trier, 2008). By breaking the rules, the show educates the public about those rules. "Most of the mainstream media conforms to certain journalistic conventions that The Daily Show violates" (Trier, 2008:2). Journalistic conventions are broken many times in each episode, and with each instance both educating the public and pushing journalists and others in the mainstream news media. "By violating some formal conventions of media commentary (e.g., acting-out voices), Stewart models the necessity for rhetors to constantly go beyond the given, generating arguments and looking for alternate ways of constructing any event" (Waisanen, 2009). The genius of The Daily Show is that in no other way besides assuming the role of journalist could one break the rules of journalism. "Stewart and Colbert do not inhabit the role of sensibility that 'all the world’s a fiction'" (Boler, 2008). Stewart develops media literacy in his audience by hammering away at the spin in the mainstream media, teaching the audience to be always aware of the fact that all media messages have embedded values and points of view. Most Media Messages are Organized to Gain Profit and/or Power At the heart of any democracy is the value that people--a balance of majority and minority values and interests--have power. For this value to be realized, the people need to have a deep understanding of the powers against which they must assert their own power. "Stewart and Colbert’s strategy of satirical specificity performs essential democratic functions by directing critical accountability toward the suasive, mystifying merger terms in politics and media" (Waisanen, 2009). The Daily Show educates the audience about the way those with political and economic power use the media for their own ends. The show plays an important educational function in society because "these comic strategies encourage the critique and innovation of perspectives in public life. They set in motion pluralistic communication and awareness and summon accountability toward politics and media" (2009). Stewart teaches the audience to think critically about media messages by making explicit the profit and power goals of those who create the messages. A Week in the Life of The Daily Show: Media Literacy in Action The Daily Show consists of four twenty-minute episodes a week airing from Monday through Thursday. The educational function of the show in terms of media literacy can be glimpsed through a sampling of a week of shows. The following is a brief summary of media literacy aspects gleaned from the week of July 5th to 8th, 2010. On the Monday episode, The Daily Show sent a correspondent to South Africa to report on racial tensions. The scene is set by playing on the assumptions portrayed in the mainstream media that South Africa suffers from racial tension, race riots, and hatred between black people and white people. The correspondent interviews many people on the street and is shocked to find that the assumptions are incorrect. He portrays shock that the media would convey an inaccurate portrayal of the situation (Stewart, 2010: 7/5). On the Tuesday episode, Jon Stewart showed clips of mainstream media (CNN) reporting on bad news about the jobless rate and number of jobs lost that simultaneously showed a split screen with a video of stock exchange celebrations with an indoor fireworks display. He pointed out that CNN did not seem to be aware of the message sent by the showing of celebration during reporting on bad news (Stewart, 2010: 7/6). On the Wednesday episode, Stewart engaged in critical analysis of Fox News coverage of President Obama tasking NASA with finding "a way to reach out to the Muslim world." He showed clips of Fox News reporters saying that NASA is not in the business of diplomacy. He pointed out how Fox News had morphed the NASA logo into a Muslim symbol. He then showed a clip of Ronald Reagan tasking NASA with reaching out to Soviet citizens. He then showed numerous clips of Fox News being critical of Muslims building mosques in American communities, pointing out the rhetoric of fear used in their reporting. He responds by saying, "But fortunately, the responsible mainstream media is also covering this story, and they're framing the issue much differently than Fox", after which he showed a clip of Dianne Sawyer on ABC News using the same rhetoric of fear (Stewart, 2010: 7/7). On the Thursday episode, Stewart showed clips of mainstream media reporting on John McCain's position concerning new immigration laws in Arizona. The first clip shows McCain recently supporting the legislation using anti-immigrant and anti-amnesty language, followed by a second clip from several years prior in which McCain uses language diametrically opposed to that of the first clip. He makes it obvious that the mainstream media only reports the most current positions and does not hold them accountable by pointing out extreme changes in position (Stewart, 2010: 7/8). Why the Daily Show Matters (Media Literacy Educational Function) The Daily Show plays an important educational role in our society, especially in terms of media literacy. "Media literacy education received in school or even university cannot be expected to retain its relevance over time in our rapidly evolving information environment" (Moody, 2009). Media literacy education is not limited to the classroom. Gray asserts that "Traditionally, media literacy education theory has focused largely on education in the classroom, and few have discussed the potential for television to teach itself" (2005). Although the show claims to be entertainment focusing only on comedy, "since jokes make us laugh, many viewers are likely to seek out parody, and few of us are likely to feel imposed upon in the way we might react to more overtly didactic messages" (2005). The Daily Show can "teach media processes, form, and ideology in a relaxed and appealing manner could make such programs useful allies to traditional K-12 and college programs or classes" (2005). By helping its viewers to become media literate, The Daily Show benefits a democratic society. A study by Fox, et al, "found Stewart's program to be just as substantive as the broadcast networks' campaign coverage" (Fox, et al, 2010). Other studies have found that The Daily Show