After addressing both the recent
and distant past in my last 2 posts, I’m bringing the focus back to the modern
day with tonight’s entry. Recent events have sparked this entry, as I look into
“Paid Patriotism” as an emerging truth in modern America. John Oliver looks
into this, as a part of his show, Last Week Tonight, where he talks
about various current events are going to affect the public, and you in
particular.
As seen in this
clip, there is a surprising amount of money spent, by the United States
government, to popularize and make the military more favorable to the public.
Though I do believe that who serve in the military make a tremendous sacrifice
for the greater good, I do not believe in over glorifying them in the fashion
that professional sports do. Regardless of my belief on the subject, this video
got me thinking about how other pertinent topics are addresses, or made
available, to the public through non-traditional means of the consumption.
On that note, I
would like to look at how news media and more conventional ways of obtaining
the news. Traditional news consumption increases a lot during election seasons.
One series of political events always seem to get a rise out of a lot of
people, being the political debates for both Democrat and Republican primary
candidates. I have talked about torture being popularized, through video games,
in recent times, but the talk of torture that was actually implemented, as a
means of enhanced interrogation, remains in the media. Let us take a look at
some Republican candidate express their opinions on “water boarding.”
Apart
from the tactic of dancing over and around the topic at hand, the candidates
did manage to state what they believed in. While some people answer questions
like Donald Trump, with poorly thought out sentences and understanding on the
topic, others answer like Rick Perry, as he briefly mentions his opinion and
shifts the focus to how he would be a fantastic and morally sound commander in
chief. On the subject of torture and safety, I would look back at that previous
posting, where I talked about the increased reference to torture in video
games, television, and film.
With
all these types of media delivering different opinions and sides on issues, I
want to compare how shows like John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight, compare
to what we are used to seeing. Over the past decade or so, an increasing number
of people turn to satirical news shows, like John Stewart’s The Daily Show,
and Steven Colbert’s The Colbert Report for learning about current
events. While all three of the shows, that I have mentioned here, are have an
openly “liberal” stance on issues, they have become very well recognized
programs that rival programs on well established news networks on the other
end, such as Fox News.
In the past, Steven Colbert has even appeared on the
conservative news shows The O’Riley Factor. In one particular interview,
Colbert mocks O’Riley’s while on his show back in 2007. Since then, Colbert has
grown far more popular, hosting The Late Show on CBS. O’Riley has
actually come on Colbert’s show to both promote his own book, and “Butt Heads”
once again.
Colbert and O'Riley from 2007
O'Riley and Colbert in 2016
By
watching these excerpts, we can see just how much differences of opinion can
have on the presentation of important issues. Whether is be on moral or
political grounds, people are heavily influenced by people they watch,
particularly those who are meant to provide information. Weather it be through
the newspaper or YouTube, it is more important than ever to develop your own,
fully formed opinion.
