Americans today are constantly reminded of the pressing issues facing our nation including a struggling economy, high rates of joblessness, increases to cost of living expenses and lingering memories of the recent wars and terrorist attacks just to name a few. Unfortunately finding unbiased information or even the facts surrounding these issues or proposed policies that address these issues in language that the average American citizen can understand is extremely difficult in today's media space. Intead they are subject to partisan writings and commentaries that focus placing the blame or attacking the other side. By now, I think that many Americans are turned off by this type of reporting and just want to be able to understand the issues that affect them, the key players who are proposing changes to address the issues, and the facts surrounding those changes so that they can form their own opinion and ultimately cast an educated vote. This lack of autonomy and complexity of material in the public media space have pushed a large portion of the general public to other outlets such as political satire shows for their political information.
Two of these political satire shows that play an important role in reaching out to a wide variety of individuals within the public sphere include The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. The hosts, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are two PI's who report out on the same issues as the other public intellectuals, journalists, and political commentators, but their messages are delivered in a language and format that the average citizen as well as an elitist can understand as well as enjoy. In a style that Jacobs and Townsley would classify as "infotainment" Stewart and Colbert use their media platforms to poke fun at the personality-driven political opinion shows that saturate the mainstream media channels. The intents of the shows are not to make light of the pressing issues facing America but rather to poke fun at the way in which the current political media space covers them. Posner would be quick to point out that these intellectuals have no influence and wall statements lack any sort of accountability but they do provide the most important piece which is providing facts in language that the general public can understand and use to form their own opinions. And it's those educated opinions that will spark debate and discussion with other informed citizens.
Excellent analysis Christopher. You're right that it is precisely the growing lack of "autonomy" and complexity in the media and its spaces of opinion that is pushing people to turn to political satire and "faux news" shows like the Daily Show and the Colbert Report for their political information. And in the process Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and comedians like Bill Mahr (sp?) have become some of our leading public intellectuals. Just an aside: I wonder if Posner has ever appeared on the Daily Show, or if he would ever consent to appearing on such a show. I know some serious "public intellectuals" past and present-- like Sartre or Noam Chomsky or Richard Rorty-- would probably never agree to appear on such a show.
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