Good satire can make you laugh, think or act; the best satire will make you do all three.
An Alligator Op-Ed from last week quipped "Comedic journalism is informative and here to stay." The beauty of this argument is comedic journalism is here to not only stay but improve and evolve as well. In that vein, John Oliver’s "Last Week Tonight" displays a new branch of evolution in comedic journalism.
Among the group of "The Daily Show" offshoots, Oliver’s program ventures into new terrain. While focusing on a single, usually not-so-well-known issue for about 10, 12 or sometimes 20 minutes would normally be thought of as comedic suicide, Oliver and crew use this format to delve deeper into issues. From this depth of coverage and satire, Oliver often draws forth possible solutions or methods of civic activism, a phenomenon Time magazine has coined the "John Oliver Effect."What does this "John Oliver Effect" look like in action?
On May 16, Oliver and crew focused on contract farming in the chicken industry — not a very sexy topic at first glance. From the exploitation of chicken farmers by corporations imposing expensive upgrades to the lack of profits farmers can make off their chickens due to unfair contract restrictions, Oliver exposed the full extent of corporate malpractice against farmers in the chicken industry. "How can the people who make the meat we eat the most barely be making a living?" Oliver objected. The resulting public outrage was astounding. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) remarked, "We’ve never had publicity like this in the 16 years I’ve been working on this issue." Likewise, back in June 2014, Oliver covered net neutrality, which is the principle that Internet service providers like Verizon, Cox and Time Warner should not be able to charge companies like Netflix, Facebook and Google for faster Internet connection speeds. In January 2014, a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) appeals court motioned to remove net neutrality.
In response to public protest and outrage, a 120-day open commentary period opened on the FCC website for the public to address concerns over net neutrality. Oliver directed his attention toward breaking down net neutrality for his audience, and then rallying Internet commenters across the country to flood the FCC’s website with their thoughts.
The result? More than one million comments were left on the FCC’s site the following day, invariably crashing the website. This is the kind of activism comedic journalism is capable of inspiring. Interestingly enough, amid his success and rapidly growing fame, John Oliver upholds his humility. In a May 2015 interview with Jorge Ramos, Oliver commented, "I’m not a journalist… I’m a comedian." Oliver feels the notion he has more credibility than most journalists, which, Ramos brings up in the interview, is "more an insult to the current state of journalism than it is a compliment to the state of comedy."
Comedy, journalism or entertainment; whichever you feel John Oliver does, you must admit he does so with journalistic integrity. The best example of this is Oliver’s coverage, or lack thereof, of the Aug. 7 Republican presidential debate. "In fact the main headlines the next day were nothing to do with the battle between the candidates on stage but between Donald Trump and moderator Megyn Kelly," Oliver contended. "If you want to hear more on the Trump-Kelly showdown, you can basically watch any news network right now, ‘cause it’s all they’re f-----g talking about. But we are going to move on."
Oliver then directed the attention of the episode to an issue of relevance to the American public: the underdeveloped, inconsistent and often biased sex education system. As the official U.S. news networks continually veer toward misinformation and sensationalism, late-night comedians are not only connecting more directly with the hearts and minds of the public, but also displaying a truer sense of journalistic integrity in the process. The "John Oliver Effect" is what the news ought to inspire.
David Hoffman is a UF history and physics sophomore. His column appears on Tuesdays.
