Fake News

Satirical fake news has become extremely popular over the last few years with the introduction and growth of television shows like The Daily Show with John Stewart, The Colbert Report and The Rick Mercer Report. I believe that satirical fake news plays an important role in the dissemination of information for young adults. I do believe that people should be educated by other forms of media as well - such as real news sources like newspapers and television news broadcasts – to ensure that they are getting the necessary and correct facts about current events; however, satirical fake news still does a great job of bringing important issues to the public.

Regular news is not really enjoyable to watch because it is often filled with terrible stories and upsetting happenings. I believe that it may be important to hear about the murders and house fires that occur in the world, especially in our own neighbourhoods, but it is quite a downer to watch the news and hear so much bad news. Satirical fake news, on the contrary, presents some of the larger issues in a way that gets your attention but still entertains you at the same time. These programs take what is actually happening in the world and present it in a comedic way that both informs you and gives you a laugh. Perhaps I am being somewhat selfish in that I do not enjoy hearing a lot of bad news. It’s just that I want to hear the news that is most important and skip some of the heartbreaking, tragic events going on around me.

I think that one of the issues people have with satirical fake news is that they find it to be a biased and unreliable source of information. There seems to be a common belief that real news programs, on the contrary, are unbiased and completely based on facts. I believe this is far from the truth. News programs – as well as other sources of media – often sensationalize stories in order to attract an audience. They are also quite biased and often alter stories in order to persuade the public to think a certain way and do certain things. Many media outlets are associated with a political viewpoint, such as the Toronto Star being considered a Liberal paper. How are we supposed to trust these sources of information if there is evidence that points to them having biases and distorting the facts to fit their viewpoints?

At least with satirical fake news, the public realizes that they are not watching an actual news program and that they are being exposed to biases and exaggerations. I think that people who watch these programs take what they hear and see with a grain of salt – at least the majority of viewers do. We like to watch these shows because they present us with key issues in the world, but poke fun at both these issues and the way these issues are presented in the mainstream media. They have a great entertainment value. Maybe we are not getting all the facts and hearing all sides of the issues, but we are being shown what the issues are.

Personally, I am a big fan of The Rick Mercer Report. I watched this show a lot during the federal election. I read the newspaper, I watched so-called “real” news programs and I spoke to a lot of different people about the election. The Rick Mercer Report was my way of seeing the issues at hand in a comical way and laughing at how ridiculous the election got at times. It can be draining to hear the same stories over and over about what Harper said about Dion, or what Layton said about Harper. It almost seems like politicians are going in a vicious circle and the same issues are coming up over and over again. The Rick Mercer Report allowed me to think about those issues while having a laugh at how absurd the election got at times. I enjoy watching his satirical take on the candidates and the proposed ideas.

Note: During the election, The Rick Mercer Report aired an extremely funny clip about the commercials aired by political candidates. I highly recommend you watch it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hfGy_b87gI