Blog 11 – The Colbert Report

After watching the Colbert Report: Cairo Turns into Jersey Shore, it is obvious that Mr. Colbert finds comedy in providing news. This is to be expected because the show is on comedy central. Comparing it to the article about Anderson Cooper being attacked. The Huffington Post reported more details of the attack and provided statements from Cooper’s crew in Cairo, Egypt. On the Colbert Report, it made a reference that Cairo has turned into the Jersey Shore followed by a clip of a man getting punched in the head ten times. Mr. Colbert also use body language and his tone of voice throughout the video makes sure there is parts to laugh. He also jokes on the grassroots movement in Egypt followed by the comment of the lack of grass in Egypt. He then proceeds to showing a picture of pyramids and camels. Colbert adds a video from CNN that gives some credibility to the report he is covering of Mr. Cooper. I would consider the T.V. show as a nontraditional news source. People that listen to The Colbert Report are aware there is a comedic twist and that not all information is being described. Even though it is not a blog or discussion group I would still classify it as a nontraditional news source. One of the issues with the nontraditional news source is the “same commitment to fairness and balance of coverage that a professional news source would have.” However, as we have seen in the past years, more and more news sources are becoming bias. In the New York Times Article, “Public Opinions”, there are numerous complaints about the voices that are replacing reports. There are a lot more opinion articles that are being placed in the news section. Mr. Colbert plays a role in mobilizing the public. Some citizens don’t like to watch FOX News or CNN because of the political bias of the stations as well as its seriousness. The Colbert Report is a good way to get some top headline news as well as a laugh or two within a few minutes.