Last Blog! News in The Daily Show

The Daily Show is a satirical news show and markets itself thus. Obviously, as a brand cobranded with the Comedy Central network, it knows its place in the media world, and does not pretend to be a serious news source. However, the Daily Show does have a niche in the news media culture that contributes to the serious news community because it so effectively uses sarcasm and wit to point out different angles in the news. Comedy is a technique that appeals greatly to me as a consumer, and if someone can make a rational point using comedy, I am often more likely to listen to that point than if that person presented the point with a straight laced approach.
      Recently, I have heard many comparisons between the union protests in Wisconsin and the protests in Egypt. While they both fall under the category of "political protests," the Wisconsin and Egypt situations could not be more different in scope or in practice. Here is a clip from the Daily Show a couple of nights ago critiquing this comparison:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-february-22-2011/wisconsin-budget-protests
This is pretty hilarious and quite clever. John Oliver (the "Daily Show correspondent" covering the story) uses sarcasm to force the protestors creating the link between Egypt and Wisconsin to deflate their own comparison. Now, I would have seen rationally that these two events are not nearly as linked as they are made out to be if an anchor on national television had pointed out the divide. However, watching someone unveil the irony in the way that Oliver was able to do was, to me, significantly more effective than the previous method. I feel that often, the Daily Show makes a mockery of the images and comparisons produced by the mainstream media. However, they do not receive the same flak for challenging that media status quo because they are billed as a comedy show. Thus they are at liberty to point out the ridiculousness  of any language suggested to the mainstream media or to politicians by consultants like Frank Luntz without worrying about their image being tarnished. In a comedic news show, the whole point IS to challenge the status quo. In this particular example, John Oliver points out the ridiculousness of the comparisons between the Wisconsin situation and the Egypt situation. Through the eyes of all those who watch the Daily Show, this destroys the credibility of media outlets using this comparison. In this sense, the Daily Show serves an important purpose in elucidating manipulative or false language in the media. And while the show markets itself comedically, it often has something powerful to say about the hard hitting stories important to the mainstream media.