Is satire in news effective? Is it OK for people to address serious matters in a way that would make people laugh? Is this maybe more effective than just dishing out cold, hard facts? Some people may agree that satire is attention grabbing and, while the viewer is laughing at the point of view of the satirist, they start to think of the issue from a new perspective. At first they are like, “Haha, that’s funny!” Then, you may see them look off into the distance with an insightful look in their eyes, and they say, “Huh, they really should do something about that troublesome crisis in that distant country.”
Many jokes made in satirical news require the viewer to already have a lot of knowledge on the subject to even understand the joke. If someone in a group of people watching a show like "The Colbert Report" feels left out because everyone is laughing at what was just said, someone who did get it would tell them, or they would look it up themselves, and they would be educated in the process of being entertained. This is a more effective way to rather than just hearing it plainly spoken on the news. Also, people who didn't get the joke would be more motivated to learn what the issues being joked about were so they could get a laugh out of the joke.
Here is an episode of "The Colbert Report" and as you can see, the title itself could spark some anger, primarily from defensive libertarians. In one episode, Colbert addressed how people have threatened to stop him from making his comedy show because they found it offensive. But he's still here making people laugh!
Richard Pryor, a successful African American comedian, tied in race to some of his jokes to poke at certain stereotypes. Despite this, people of all racial backgrounds enjoyed his comedy. In one of his acts, he talked about how "The Exorcist" would have been different if it were filmed with an African American family rather than a white one. There is a recording of this below.
After listening to this recording, it reminded me of the hilarious "A Haunted House" movies. If any of you have seen these movies, you know what I mean, with Father Doug for example, you'd agree there are some similarities. This shows that people from this generation possibly found inspiration in some of these older comedy acts. People are much more likely to remember things from the past if they are entertaining. Race continues to be an issue to some people today, as absurd as it may seem, but at least people can laugh about stereotypes whether or not they are true.
In this generation, many people’s lives are fast paced, and some people’s attention spans have decreased. Some people have even switched to Twitter from Facebook because Twitter has shorter posts. In this short-attention-span era, many people may not want to sit and watch an episode of the news, unless it is entertaining, such as the news portion on "Saturday Night Live." Other popular shows, "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report," were reported as being the most watched late-night talk shows by adults. This shows that much more people were being exposed to the news in the form of these hilarious shows. Not to mention, it is a great way to relieve the stress from everyday life. The importance of daily laughter is amazing.
However, some people like to argue that comedy and serious matters should be kept separate. This makes sense, as some people may be offended by how satire may seem like a lighthearted approach to a matter that means a lot to them. However, I’d like to confront that argument to say that, though satire seems to carelessly poke at serious matters, the overall goal is to make it known that the issue needs to be addressed. In a way, it is more effective than regular news, when you take into account how the humor keeps people interested. If people who are uptight and offended by the tie-in of humor, they might not find this news style as effective as regular, serious news styles.
All in all, whether or not it a humorous approach more effective depends on and how the community views it.
