Post 1 for Television Cultures
The News was once a name for a genre of informative broadcasts that communicated global and local headlines to its audience in a predictable, formal and somewhat templated manner. But the application of this term ‘The News’ is starting to be blurred due to what could be explained as audiences growing tired of the repetitive delivery of the negative headlines. Ultimately, this has resulted in a growing number alternative News broadcast services, such as satirical news programs.
The genre of ‘satirical news’ encompasses the use of sarcasm and irony in response to and to communicate headlines from around the globe for informative and entertainment purposes.
No longer do audiences seek for their headlines to be solely communicated by a middle aged, slightly plump suited man, sitting at a desk with a mug of what must be terribly cold black coffee who reads his words from a teleprompter with no added personal opinion.
Shows such as Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Daily Show and The Weekly with Charlie Pickering are providing audiences with the opportunity to receive and interact with a new type of news- one that takes a lighter approach at recapping the headlines, whilst continuing on with a stereotypical news vibe by mimicking the aesthetics of a typical news broadcast. These shows may be considered, by their elements or on a whole, as an alternative news service or as scholars
Chris Peters and Marcel Jeroen have named them- ‘hybridised media formats” due to their incorporation of different genres, uses and platforms.
Whilst these shows may take on the stereotypical visual aspects of the news, maybe except for the plump, middle-aged man bit, they are different in many other respects.
These shows are broadcast in a different way and at a different time to the general ‘real’ news broadcast. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is not screened on free to air TV- it is a show that in Australia is exclusive to The Comedy Channel and generally at 6.30pm, a whole hour after the stereotypical time-slot for a general news broadcast. But this delivery of ‘the news’ is also available on demand via services such as Foxtel GO AND certain extracts of the show that encompass highlights from his delivery of the news can be viewed on Youtube for free viewing- anytime, anywhere, any way.
Due to the multi-platform of these programs, and their ability to be scheduled around ones day, programs such as Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, for instance, have more of an active audience- an audience where members attentively choose the programs in which they view based on their likes, as well as ‘actively’ interpreting the messages conveyed through the media.
This audience includes not just the subscribers of Foxtel or fans that interact with the content available on Youtube, but those who seek a lighter approach to the way they receive their headlines and actively pursuit a TV show which provides this.
Not only has the satirical news show changed the classification of news programs, but it highlights the audience’s growing need for a fresh, new take on the way they receive their news- how it is delivered, how it is received and how it is viewed.
REFERENCES
Peters, Chris, Marcel Jeroen Broersma (2013). Rethinking Journalism : Trust and Participation In a Transformed News Landscape. New York, NY: Routledge
