This year in politics has been an unprecedented spectacle. Misinformation has been spread like wildfire, by both the president and major news networks. The best source to get any real and direct information nowadays seems to be from comedians. Part of the appeal of political satire is its relatability; we hear so many unbelievable claims coming from the White House every week that it’s hard not to wonder if it’s all one big joke or social experiment. Comedians do what we wish we could all do: call Trump and his administration out on his BS. One of the biggest terms being thrown around right now , is “Fake News”, quite possibly Trump’s favorite term to get people riled up at rallies. I myself attempted to attend a Trump rally (just out of sheer curiosity) in my hometown of Nashville, TN, and while I was waiting in line to get in to the Municipal Auditorium where it was held, I was approached by dozens of vendors peddling “Make America Great Again” hats, T’s and beanies, “Lock Her Up” banners, and buttons with major news network logos on them (yes, most of them said CNN), which underneath read “FAKE NEWS”. I began to feel like I was in line for some sort of concert or comedy act, not to see the president of the United States.
Part of the reason for CNN’s bad rap amongst Trump supporters is the use of constant screaming debates amongst show hosts and guests paid to support Trump, filling more air time than actual events. As the Vox Video above lays out, this is largely due to Jeff Zucker, who has been the network’s president since 2013. Before CNN, he worked for NBC and oversaw shows like Fear Factor and, yikes, even the Apprentice (talk about a turn around). These shows centralize on creating drama, which is why it comes as no surprise that since his time with the network, much of the discussions on the show are set up to turn in to dramatic fights. The drama factor is only elevated by adopting techniques from ESPN such as creating countdown clocks for speeches and debates, and setting up huge panels to scrutinize Trump’s most recent mistakes (which given the sheer quantity of these, this can be something that completely eats up air time).
As much as Trump’s actions deserve to be scrutinized, it’s agonizing and overwhelming to watch it happen 24/7 on the news, and is a huge reason many Americans have turned to more internet sources for getting informed on what’s actually happening in the world. However, internet articles can be a challenge because many of them contain false or misleading information. Recently, the Facebook app even posted a banner at the top of your feed that read “Learn How to Spot Fake News” and listed some tips for users on how to spot unreliable news. It seems to be that the most informed source for news right now are comedians; they don’t want to be the butt of their own jokes by spreading misinformation, and find humor in networks, people, and sources who are causing this misinformation outbreak.
So maybe instead of watching the daytime news, wait to tune in to some late night political satire. Chances are, you’ll be much more entertained than you would be watching one of CNN’s screaming matches, and you’ll probably walk away feeling more informed.
Before writing this article, these two videos above were brought to my attention. Some of the information in my article was sourced from these videos so if you’re more interested in this topic, please give these a watch.
Thumbnail Image:https://makeameme.org/meme/fake-news-fake-ip6byn