Two weeks ago John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight, had a segment about Donald Trump and his candidacy. This segment, in which he slammed Donald Trump, calling him "America's back mole," has had over 22 million views in two weeks, and has introduced John Oliver to hundreds of thousands of new viewers. I have been watching Last Week Tonight for a while so it was no surprise to me when he caught everyone's attention. But now that so much more of the world is watching him, there is a chance John Oliver can change how journalism operates for the younger generations.
In our society there are many topics that are "taboo" or "off-limits." They are the things people don't think we should talk about in public settings because they are inflammatory topics. Things like abortion, abuse of government power, inequality between genders or economic classes, the death penalty, and religion. Guess what? John Oliver has talked about all of these topics on his show, and is still doing very well. This is because instead of skirting around the difficult parts of these issues he attacks them with humor. He looks at every issue, researching with his team all week, and delivers his honest opinion (which he makes very clear for his audience). But he does so in a humorous way. For example, in a segment looking at televangelists, Oliver revealed he had founded his own church, Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption, to highlight the absurdities of some televangelists' churches. It was an extremely funny bit at the end of the segment, but he actually did make this official church, and by going through the criteria with his audience, showed them just how ridiculous an "official" church can be. He also did this with the #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain campaign, when he altered Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan to reflect the Trump family's ancestral name "Drumpf."
John Oliver does not believe he is a journalist. He has said in several interviews that, despite the fact he has, according to Jorge Ramos, "more credibility then most journalists here in the United States," he is a comedian, not a journalist. But Oliver appears to be showing the world that being a comedian and journalist are not mutually exclusive. One can be both, and be successful. There is no doubt he has tackled serious issues (like those already discussed). He has also done interviews with men like Edward Snowden and Stephen Hawking, something few journalists can say they've done. But few journalists are quite like John Oliver. For Snowden, Oliver even flew to Russia to interview him. Yet, in typical Oliver-comedian style, he had Snowden explain various government surveillance systems in relation to whether or not the government could see people's "dick pics." While many may see this as crass, it definitely got Snowden's attention, as well as the attention of viewers who would normally zone out on a topic such as government surveillance.
John Oliver has put the idea of using humor to talk about serious issues to the test, and he has surely passed. With his show garnering more and more attention, it is clear that he has found a new way, whether he admits it or not, to discuss serious journalism with the world, and, more importantly, to make the world listen. In today's world, when so many people no longer seem interested with anything outside of their own personal bubble, John Oliver has found a way to pop that little bubble and reach everyone, regardless of who they are. Make 'em laugh, and the people will return for more.
