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Mock News and Democracy: Analyzing The Daily Show

2007; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 15; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/15456870701465315

1545-6889

Paul R. Brewer, Emily Marquardt,

Rhetoric and Communication Studies

The Daily Show is a television program that uses "fake" news stories and real guest interviews to mock the substance and form of traditional television news programs. A content analysis examined the news stories and interviews in 52 episodes of The Daily Show from early 2005. Of the 222 news stories in these episodes, more than half addressed political topics; a fourth did so using issue frames. Almost half of the stories addressed world affairs. A smaller—but nonetheless substantial—percentage addressed the news media. Many of the 52 interviews also addressed politics, world affairs, and the news media. These findings, taken in conjunction with findings regarding the effects of "soft news" media, suggest that The Daily Show may have the potential to educate viewers about politics (including policy issues), draw their attention to events in world affairs, and encourage them to think critically—or perhaps cynically—about traditional news.