The Volante > Opinion
COLUMN: Young people prefer news parodies
Tucker Knudson
Volante Opinion Writer
Published: Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, April 1, 2009
I used to watch the big news channels like CNN and MSNBC just as much as the next person.I am still a fan of Anderson Cooper and Bill O’Reilly, and I still tune in to the major stations when there is a national emergency or huge breaking news. But when I need an information fix, I tend to avoid the mainstream sources and go for guys like Jon Stewart and Web sites like Drudge Report and FARK.
As more critics say the media is influenced by advertisers and government officials, more people are getting news from independent sources.
We, as a people of democracy, liberty and justice, feel that what we watch on televised news should be credible. Since the Bush Addministration tainted the media with bribery, phony videos and deception, many people have been turned off to their previous news sources.
Apart from the scandalous activity within the media world, there is a significant group of young adults who simply do not watch the news because they feel it is dry. These are the individuals who never raised their hands when their social science class discussed current events in high school. It is these same people, however, that watch the Daily Show on Comedy Central every single night.
So why do many teens and young adults choose to watch a parody of real news rather than CNN? Because the Daily Show is more entertaining, of course.
Recently, Jon Stewart owned financial adviser Jim Cramer for giving faulty advice concerning the stock market.
Stewart’s team of experienced researchers dug up a host of video clips showing Jim Cramer on television giving the bad advice, and the information given on the Daily Show was more organized and factual than anything I saw on MSNBC.
The icing on this journalism-expertise cake was the fact I was actually laughing out loud and saying “You rock Jon Stewart!” as I was watching it. Have you ever said, “I love you Lou Dobbs!” out loud before?
Of course, the television is not the only source for information these days. We now have the technology of the Internet to absorb fresh news stories minutes after the event has occurred. Is my Firefox bookmark tab full of links to Fox News or the New York Times? Not so much. Rather, I visit FARK.com when I need some jaw-dropping stories or a little chuckle in the morning. Another good one is DrudgeReport.com with its “tell it like it is” attitude toward news.
These less mainstream sources usually add their own input on a situation, whereas big news sources cannot take a biased standpoint on most issues. This added touch of a different perspective gives the news a personal feel that makes it easier for the average American to connect with and relate to the news.
More power to the avid CNN fans. These sources have a lot to offer and with the new presidential administration, hopefully we can trust the media will return to its factual basis and unbiased reporting.
But for those who want to be informed and entertained all at once, I suggest looking elsewhere for the day-to-day news stories. Try something new, you just might like it.
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