Parody News- Colbert, Oliver, & The Sun

If I am being honest I have not been exposed to a whole lot of parody news until this section of the class; in general, parodies do not fit in with my sense of humor. However, after watching the Colbert piece(s) as well as the Oliver piece I may very well have changed my mind. I truly enjoyed watching serious subjects being discussed in satirical ways. I feel that the core information came through as intended and the humor added to the cause. Although, I also see the drawbacks to pieces such as these. It takes a certain level of intelligence to decipher between what is “real” and what is fake. I would argue that a majority of our population is/can be very lacking in this type of intelligence/common sense, which has the ability to cause major issues when it pertains to parody news. Before being exposed to these videos, I would have said that news should be delivered in a serious manner. However, after watching these clips I have a new appreciation for parody news. First of all, I feel that I am a lot more likely to retain the information because it was presented to me with humor. Second, I feel that I am also more likely to continue to seek out parody news now that I have been exposed to it because I enjoy it exponentially more than “regular” news.

While I appreciate the humor of these pieces, they also have real world impact as shown with the case of immigrant farm workers and Colbert. Although Colbert was being satirical and a bit facetious, he was also getting his point across eloquently; especially when he was discussing his need to support and give power to the less powerful people in our society. By him using his voice and fame to do good for people who do not have a voice he is using his power for positive change. Though he is mostly a comedian, he is also extremely intelligent and well-spoken and people want to listen to what he has to say which in turn helps facilitate change.

Within the Sun article regarding “life on the moon” as well as other “astronomical breakthroughs” I found less satire and more sadness. I truly cannot believe that, “To this day, the moon hoax is remembered as one of the most sensational media hoaxes of all time.” I find it sad that people were in uproar and believed these things to be true. However, I also understand that this was a completely different time period than we live in today and the newspaper is what everyone relied on to receive their news. Although, it really reminds me of the random articles that people read on the internet today and take as fact without any research or true thought on the matter. It is truly sad how gullible and ignorant people in our society can be. This example is why I feel that parody news should only be available in video form where it is possible to read social ques and facial expressions from the person delivering the message. Otherwise, I feel as if there is way too much room for errors in judgement.

 Overall, I would say that in general parody news has a purpose and can be used for good as long as people are able to understand its true meaning without reading too far into it.