Monday, October 22, 2007

Colbert and Russert - One Doesn't Get It

On the front page of the business section, David Carr offers his take on Steven Colbert's appearance on Meet the Press yesterday, The Gospel According to Mr. Colbert. He also makes the case that the traditional media doesn't get it or understand the problem or that they're the butt of the joke every bit as much as the politicians they cover.

He relays how his 84 year old father didn't understand why this Colbert was on Meet The Press. Carr notes,
"But the message I draw from Mr. Colber is not that members of the media-political complex need to laugh at themselves, but that they need to take a hard look. The incipent generation of news consumers has made it clear that it does not want to see a bunch of guys with really nice neckware standing on the White House lawn talking about what they did not learn in the press room behind them and then flick at 'sources' who suggest that 'one thing is clear.' One thing is, in fact, clear, from the plummeting numbers for network news: the jig is up. Consumers have decided that network news and talk show are every bit as fake and not nearly as funny as 'The Daily Show' and 'The Colbert Report.'"

It's worth a full read. Carr goes on to quote a GWU journalism professor.

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