Hi there,
The following reflection post will address the week 5 session. We carried out our rehearsals at studio A, a bigger studio than studio C and with more facilities. At first, we had a host, but no director, Autocue prompter, and Graphics manager. Later, the host had to leave the university and the director showed up! Luckily enough, another crew member filled in for the host because the show must go on! Funnily enough, this rehearsal turned out better than the previous despite the inconveniences. Another aspect that I figured out during this rehearsal, a successful crew must be able to adapt quickly for any sudden changes. In this case, some of the existing crew members filled in for the missing members, while simultaneously doing their own tasks because everyone was set on doing the rehearsal as perfectly as possible. Moreover, there were good communications within the crew member, which contributed to the success of the rehearsal. Personally, I gained a diverse range of skills from the rehearsals. For starters, I practiced directing, which taught me the need to be kept alert and in touch with the rest of the crew. Then, I was taught how to use the vision switcher, and believe me when I say it wasn’t easy! In this specific rehearsal, I handled uploading the script and making few adjustments to it, so that it becomes easy to read on the autocue prompt, and for a first timer I think I did a pretty good job!
Prior to the rehearsal, we had an insightful discussion of the week’s reading. The reading dictates the way in which broadcast media is being held accountable by The Daily Show. Initially, I noted this notion in almost every episode of The Daily Show and other similar shows but didn’t think about it as much as I did after the reading. Personally, I always found broadcast journalism obliged to inform the public of the ongoing news in an honest manner, and if it failed to do so, then it should be held responsible. What I didn’t register, however, was the specific way in which Jon Stewart and his colleagues shed light into journalism’s shortcomings. The article explained that the daily show held journalism accountable via, obviously, mocking them. They often do that by pretending to be journalists, so as to set the idea that journalists are pretenders. Also, Jon Stewart used his comedic humor to make broadcast outlets seem accountable to his audience. Furthermore, he kept on reminding his audience of the actual standards that journalism should reach. In addition, he explained the manner in which traditional news outlets manufacture and edit news, and as a consequence preach media literacy to his audience. Aside from humor, he held broadcast media accountable in four major ways. Firstly, he points out the falsehoods that they relay. Secondly, he marks any inconsistency in their field, so that they seem unreliable. Thirdly, he notes any incident in which they make a non-worthy piece of information ‘news’. Finally, he ends it all with some major critique of their low standard techniques.