Is the fake news the real news?

This weeks blog is asking us our perspective on culture jamming and whether or not we believe it is a useful addition to the public sphere or not.

Individuals who block the media and change the true meaning of a message by bringing up different points on something in order to make consumers think twice about a product or service are using culture jamming. The textbook sates, “the objectives of culture jamming often include consciousness raising (raising awareness of social and political issues) as well as using the media to criticise the media and dominant culture” (214). I believe that culture jamming is important in today’s world. Much of the news focuses on one side of a story giving of bias view, culture jamming allows for the public to see another opinion on something. Shows like The Daily Show or The Rick Mercer report use entertainment and comedy to provide another opinion on a story. I think that these satirical news reports in some ways provide the public sphere with a sense of relief and a summary of a different perspective regarding an issue, but this summary is done in an entertaining way.

People are becoming more and more dependent on factual new for many reasons such as hearing about world issues, the weather, or local reports. Watching the news has become engraved into many people’s daily routines. Though the information that is reported from the news is very important it can also instill many fears into peoples lives. I think that the use of satirical news is a good way to view another point through “comedy [that] can be subversive as it attracts attention in memorable ways and allows jesters to challenge authority” (223). These programs also use the “use of humor [which] might suggest to audiences, though, that the issues themselves shouldn’t be taken seriously”(223). I think that satirical news provided the public with relief from all the heavy information of news that is constantly being reported.

Cultural jamming examines the whole view of an issue while providing comedic relief of an issue about the media sources that are reporting the issue. I think that adding comedy to these shows gives them a distinctive aspect, which draws people in to them. I believe that the public is at no harm from these shows because people are still gaining information of popular topics, but it through comedy and different points of views.

O’Shaughnessy, M., Stadler J. (2012). Media and Society Fifth Edition. Victoria, Australia: Oxford.