There is a strong tradition of political satire in Canada, the Unites States, and probably many other countries where we have not had the privilege of watching television.
Satire, although not appreciated by everyone, is legal in Canada and the United States.
In these puzzling political times, satirical news is sometimes more informative than regular news. It is often very effective at cutting to the heart of a story, especially when they are indiscriminate of who they lampoon and what issues they mock.
It’s also a highly digestible form of news. The viewer gets in a few laughs helping to buoy against the depression. Sometimes the analysis is really good and sometimes the reporting (take Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, for instance) is quite thorough.
In the past, this would have been considered fake news, even though good satire is inspired by real news reports, based in fact.
People have always loved to hate on “the media” but today’s politicians have taken it to the next level.
Reporters for local newspapers are regularly accused of writing sensational headlines to “sell more copies” of newspapers that are distributed for free, for the most part.
Like in every sect of humanity, there are good people and bad people in journalism. There was once a clipped newspaper column pasted to the wall of a now shuttered area newsroom (picture two desks crammed into a musty closet) that was about the false image of journalists. In the movies they are depicted as ambitious, ruthless, thrill-seekers, when in reality, read the column, they are just average people who usually have to leave work early to pick up their barfing children from daycare.
Now we are just a small independent newspaper (a hanger-on of what used to constitute “the media”) but regular reporters (not opinion writers) are generally not out to get anyone. There is a duty to report the news. Covering a story is sometimes perceived as criticism while not covering a story is perceived as protectionism. There is a standard in journalism that when errors are made in reporting, a correction is made immediately and an apology is issued. Misinformation is disseminated with the intention of deceiving readers. This standard, in the past, has applied to elected officials and others with an audience. We have now waded into an era when the politicians and their staff are lying, refusing to retract statements and blaming “the media” for being the problem. It has certainly undermined the trust of people who consume news.
The next step in the demise of democracy is to undermine the credibility of news media.
It will be super for government once all the media is run out because then there really won’t be anyone watching. Like we said, there are good journalists and bad but one thing is certain. No one gets into this racket for the money. These are often people who have, an albeit misplaced, sense of justice that got them a cabin on a sinking ship and now they just need to leave early because of that barfing kid.