In the old days, before many readers here will remember, there were only a handful of channels and news anchors on the airwaves. The faces varied far more than editorial influence, political leanings, or anything else. Many of them worked hard at getting the straight goods, perhaps from early years in print journalism, far more than is the case today.
Now we have dozens of 24-hour news channels with rotating anchors and news stars along with a seemingly endless list of experts on virtually any topic that comes up. Hundreds of people are on the air about whom we need to suss out their credibility before deciding how much weight to give to what they tell us, whether that be news or simply their opinions presented as news or facts. Who can or should we trust? I’m not 100% sure but I’m leaning toward five entertainers I’ll call The Funny Five, all who provide us with pretend news: Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Larry Wilmore, and Trevor Noah.
(January 16,2017: When I first wrote this post I used the term fake news to describe what the Funny Five provided. In the current political climate, particularly in the United States, fake news has come to mean deliberate misinformation masquerading as actual facts or news, and potentially leading untold numbers of people to determine their political views or even their votes based on that misinformation. In one case, fake news apparently led a man to fire an assault rifle within a Washington, D.C. pizzeria based on a bizarre story about then presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the restaurant’s owner running a child sex ring in a back room. Definitely not funny. The funny five are entertainers who portray, or previously portrayed, news anchors to satirize news current and events.)
How, you might wonder, can I trust providers of pretend news over the real deal? Well, I’m not sure who to believe on the so-called real deal. The pretend news providers mock the news but in the process provide a social commentary and sometimes conceptual wake-up call or little-known facts, both which are refreshing. That such wake-ups come with laughter is merely a bonus.
Until recently, Jon Stewart was the host of The Comedy Network’s The Daily Show, which is back with a new host, Trevor Noah. Early indications are that The Daily Show will retain its quality and humour while simultaneously benefiting from the talent that Noah brought with him from years of international stand-up comedy.
Stephen Colbert was originally a player on that show but wound up with his own hilarious The Colbert Report, wherein he stayed in the character of a right-wing zealot all while mocking those same zealots. He more recently took the helm of The Late Show, hosted for decades by David Letterman. In the place of The Colbert Report, The Comedy Network created The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmot. Larry Wilmot is not Colbert or trying to be, but he is funny and informative in his own right.
Last but certainly not least, John Oliver took the helm of The Daily Show for months while Stewart directed a feature film overseas. Following that he became the face of HBO’s Last Week Tonight.
As opposed to Colbert when he assumed the persona of a zealot, Stewart repeatedly showed us his true opinions on a host of shows other than his own. It’s very clear that Jon Stewart wants to see political discourse heightened in the United States. As producer of The Daily Show and now the The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Stewart’s footprint on that mission continues. Canada and other countries could use a healthy dose of heightened political discourse too.
Some years ago, Stewart made a very good argument while being funny and teaching a few political contributors a thing or three on an earlier version of CNN’s Crossfire. Of particular note was one of the hosts taking Stewart to task for not asking politicians tough questions. Stewart pointed out how sad it would be if news organizations were measuring their moral authority against the Comedy Network. I invite you to take a peek, and remember that while CNN and the United States may each enjoy some monopolies, they have none on political hacks.
There are a host of other shows and people who provide, or previously provided, fake news. The Monty Python crew occasionally did so. From its first episodes, Saturday Night Live has had Weekend Update. Canada’s This Hour has 22 Minutes is very funny, or rather it used to be in Rick Mercer’s days, and he’s made his own mark since with The Rick Mercer Report. Those shows and others are hilarious in various ways. Moreover, many stand-up comics have been politically provocative in ways that, I think, contribute to sober thought long after the laughing has stopped. Dennis Miller and Billy Connelly are two of my favourites. With that said, the Funny Five, Stewart, Colbert, Oliver, Wilmot, and now Noah, take the discourse to a different and more in-depth level. In fairness, there is no indication that other shows and entertainers are trying to do that.
I like earnest folks in the news media who try to inform with real news. From Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon in the U.S. to Peter Mansbridge and Adrienne Arsenault in Canada to many others in other places, there is obviously a need for quality news and journalism. I’m particularly fond of how Fareed Zakaria covers global issues on his CNN show. Nevertheless, the Funny Five engage people with real issues in a different way, and some of those people may be plenty unengaged by traditional news outlets, much of which have become biased and hackneyed.
So, until a lot more actual news people become stronger arbiters of the masses of information flying at us daily, I’m going to have to look to the Funny Five to sort some of it out. That may be sad. It`s definitely funny.