Pundits and Late Night

Overheal

I think it would be relatively fair to talk about the media on its own discrete terms this election cycle.

What's interesting to me thus far is that there is a correlation between the politics ramping up and new pundits phasing into the mediasphere. For instance, Larry Wilmore of the Tonightly Show came into it late last year and at the same time we have seen a markedly more emotionally charged racial climate. Over the last year and a half John Oliver has hosted Last Week Tonight, asking people to think about issues that don't just satisfy the requirement for sexy headlines. And the last year saw Jon Stewart leave the Daily Show, who often offered on-point watchdog jokes that were covered in baconnaise-slathered slapstick humor, to be replaced by Trevor Noah who like Oliver is a cultural outsider. Not to mention Colbert's entry into basic cable's sort of trinity of new late night turnovers. He's doing well dropping the sarcastically-comic facade and I think the disappearance of that Colbert, and Stewart, was important.

After they did the Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear, the pair more or less highlighted what they had helped the media become. They were really the biggest people constantly dogging the mainstream pundits, and eventually I think years of that level of rhetoric just took its toll, as now in politics, the media, and in society, people are divided as hell and you can't argue that constant bickering/mockery of the process is what helped it along. It was time for that comedy to begin retirement (or at least stay on SNL); the level of the conversation needed to elevate some.

What's really noticeable now that Trevor Noah is on the Daily Show and John Oliver is on Last Week Tonight, it's as if it's almost intentionally that their portrayal is (honestly) as 1st generation immigrant outsiders asking us "wtf are we doing?!" The last 20 years of American media was more or less dominated by the idea of American Exceptionalism and this idea that we should simultaneously a) meddle in the affairs of other countries while b) expressing introvertedly how little regard we have for the rest of the world's issues.

My notes come from a seminar I went to Monday from the Center for China Development Studies at Clemson University: the point was raised that our economics, and even things like social services, are propped up by immigration. It keeps our workforce demographic relatively young, and in normal circumstances immigrants pay tax and deductions into the system with no representation or vote.

"Frankly, I could not f**king believe I was not allowed to vote. Three and a half years Ive lived here! I work hard -- relatively speaking for someone who does this for a living. I pay my taxes. I try to fit in. Ive learnt your rudimentary language. I dont know what more you could reasonably expect me to do. And thats when it hit me. I know why Im so angry. I know what this is -- taxation without representation. Now I get it. Now I see why you got so pissy about it all those years ago. It is annoying. You were right. It is annoying and consider that as close to an apology as you are ever going to get." John Oliver

Both Oliver and Noah give me the impression they will try to push for national and international introspection, given that we can't fundamentally take on the whole world ourselves.

As far as the pundits go, I have only seen from the pundits what is viewed through the comics, I have not listened or viewed the pundits directly since the Newtown CT shootings. Before that, you had the gold-glittered doom-prophet Beck spearheading into a new presidency with some of the absurd fearmongering that was correlative to an incredibly divisive presidency. Not everyone at FOX lacked decency though, you still had your Shep Smiths and you somewhat bi-polar O'Reilly. They have counterparts in people like Mahr, Maddow, and Matthews (none of the 3 I ever watch, Mahr perhaps to justify my HBO subscription when Oliver and Game of Thrones aren't on).

Every one of the people mentioned have some level of ability to sway the hearts/minds of the people watching them. In a democracy, that is perhaps more important the actual politicians themselves. I think it's time they were regarded as such.