Many of my classmates agree that satirical news reports is a successful way to convey ‘real’ news. For three specific blogs that I read, my fellow peers believed that the use of humour or the ‘light hearted’ ways news is presented to the viewers makes it easily understandable and more entertaining. Jessica Znackso stated that “Using humour in satirical news reports makes this form of culture jamming more lighthearted, easier to understand, and more effective. This type of reportage is therefore a useful addition to the public sphere”(http://jessicaznaczko.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/cpcf-1f25-
blog-entry-4-is-the-fake-news-real-news/). I believe that Jessica is completely correct, and that the effectiveness of conveying news (especially to younger viewers), is heightened because (firstly) there is more interest in popular culture outlets (SNL always has a new superstar-ex. Miley Cyrus- on their show) and (secondly) making serious news ‘lighter’ to people, makes it easier for people to take in, especially when it comes to serious news. When you watch a new station they usually put either a nice commercial or more uplifting news (Like the puppy born without legs now has wheels) after more serious news, like a natural disaster or killing. They give viewers a ‘break’ from disaster news with something more light hearted, whereas satirical news keeps it light and entertaining, without the need of breaks.
Though that is a bonus of satirical news I agree it sometimes avoids serious news, or avoids seriousness of a situation happening in the world. Justin M stated that “The problem with the fake [satirical] news is that there’s only a certain amount of news you can joke about, some stories are just off limits, terrorism, war and death won’t be talked about on these shows”(http://justingmsblog
.blogspot.ca/2013/11/is-fake-news-real-news.html). This makes conveying news very difficult, and if you use satirical news as your main source for information, your mind thought on what the media form is presenting can be skewed, or you can become unaware of what is actually going on in your world. Avoidance is a large issue in satirical news, and because of the use of avoidance, it makes it hard to say that it is useful for the public sphere to obtains real and truthful information and knowledge.
Another classmate argued that “ Email and other forms of computer mediated communication (CMC) have been celebrated as being both democratic and empowering mediums of mass communication because they enable individuals and smaller groups to get their message out to larger numbers of people without having to contend with restrictive policies and regulations or prohibitively expensive equipment and production costs”(http://kendrajss.blogspot.ca/2013/11/1f25-is-fake-news-real-
news.html). I agree that with the use of technology now, individuals have the opportunity to expand their minds with the endless sources of information, and CMC has made it easy for news to be passed on worldwide. With news, blogs, and various forms of information being available via the WWW(world wide web, cause I’m sure you had no idea), it makes media extremely accessible to the public sphere. Satirical news forms are all over the web and are shown in images, videos, reports, ect., almost more the what is considered ‘real news’. Many younger users are exposed to social media sites which have satirical news plastered every page, however many younger viewers do not think to go on a site like CBC news and check out what these culture jammers are making a mockery of or expose themselves to more serious news.
Overall, reading over my classmates blog I now think that satirical news is less viable than regular newscasts such as CNN or CTV and that the implications may be more serious than what I initially thought on the continued viability of the contemporary public sphere. Though satirical news do make things more interesting to watch or read, it doesn’t cover all news, whether it be because they think it will attract less viewers or because it is a sensitive subject that they cannot mock or make a joke of. Real news is accessible just as much as satirical news, and with the mind ‘break’ that real news gives us when we watch it helps our minds feel less on edge about what is going on in the world, however exposes us to everything going on in the world rather than [satirical news] only presenting news that you can joke about, and not fully telling the whole length of a story.
Brenda Bouk
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