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FAKE AND FUNNY: Comedy 'news' shows draw real newsmakers
By Ariel Brewster
COLUMBIA NEWS SERVICE
Tuesday, May 16, 2006

NEW YORK

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has 1.5 million viewers who tune into the Comedy Central cable channel for fake news each weeknight. Critical to the show's success is the willingness of guests to have views they take seriously subjected to ridicule.

Surveys have revealed that many viewers profess to get their news only from The Daily Show, a program that describes itself as "a nightly half-hour series unburdened by objectivity, journalistic integrity or even accuracy. One anchor, five correspondents, zero credibility," the writers claim.

The show, as well as its spinoff, The Colbert Report, relies on guests who agree to interviews during which they inevitably end up as the butt of a joke. Stewart's field correspondents focus on being funny rather than reporting the news, and Stephen Colbert conducts his interviews in the character of a conservative pundit, a parody of television personalities such as Bill O'Reilly. This results in awkward, antagonistic and often asinine - though very amusing - interview exchanges.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich later admitted that he had no idea that The Daily Show was a spoof when a member of his staff signed him up for a February appearance during which he was asked if he was "the gay governor." The interviewer also garbled his name and then called him "Gov. Smith."

Blagojevich, a Democrat, said he thought that he was going on a legitimate news show to discuss an executive order he had just signed requiring pharmacies to fill prescriptions for emergency birth control.

So why would people subject themselves to this? Publicity, in many cases, is the simple answer. Both shows cater to a young, educated and much coveted demographic, and guests are eager for the airtime.

Eric Foner, a historian at Columbia University, agreed to be interviewed by Rob Corddry, a Daily Show correspondent, for a segment called "Racist Like Me." A writer for the show who is a former student of Foner promised that he wouldn't be "made to look like a moron," Foner said. Then he asked his younger colleagues. "I asked my eight teaching assistants if I should do it, and they were all ultra-enthusiastic," he said.

Siva Vaidhyanathan agreed, without hesitation, to play the straight man for Demetri Martin, a comedian who contributes to The Daily Show. Vaidhyanathan, a professor of culture and communication at New York University, was asked to discuss social networking sites like MySpace.com, comparing virtual friendships with actual interaction.

Vaidhyanathan is a fan of the show, so, unlike some guests, he knew his responses would be heavily edited. "I watch it religiously, so I was excited," he said. "I've seen the ways they twist the images for comic effect, and I thought that this sort of manipulation should be encouraged."

During the interview, Martin repeatedly answered his cell phone, and in the voiceover, referred to Vaidhyanathan (who had a goatee at the time) as "Professor Small Beard."

Now when Vaidhyanathan is introduced at academic conferences, his colleagues refer to him as Professor Small Beard instead of identifying him as the author of two books.

Foner also felt the aftereffects of fame. "On the show I got about 90 seconds, I think," he said. "But for 24 hours I was world famous, judging from my e-mails and people ... in the street."

Vaidhyanathan actually said that the 30 or so questions Martin put to him were more intelligent than the usual ones in television appearances. He said they ran through the questions twice, "once straight, and then silly. Then they splice together incongruous, ridiculous questions with straight answers."

A healthy sense of humor and a guest's ability to make fun of himself are crucial to the program. "I'm perfectly willing to be toyed with. The only thing that made me wince was that I was introduced as an 'old person,'" said Vaidhyanathan, who is 40. "My shtick has been that I'm a hip, young, techno-savvy, hip-hop fan professor, and I got called 'an old person' on national television!"

Foner and Vaidhyanathan, who both managed to keep credibility and a sense of dignity in their interviews, do not think that they let themselves become sacrificial lambs for the sake of a joke.

"The people who really get humiliated are the people who deserve to be humiliated - the crackpots, the white supremacists. These people are the most marginalized," Vaidhyanathan said. "There are just so many people who are so desperate to go on the show, even to be on a show where they're ridiculed. We're in a country where you don't matter if you're not on television."

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