The Truthiness Hurts
Stephen Colbert may well be my new journalistic hero. His “The Word” segment on The Colbert Report is almost always a funny and intelligent commentary on current affairs, never more so than on his first episode where he coined the word “truthiness” – or at least a new meaning for it. The American Dialect Society apparently agreed, and named truthiness their word of the year for 2005. Well, when the Associated Press ran a story on the decision, they neglected to mention Colbert. So he took a shot at them on last night’s episode, and in this AP article. The guy stays in character to skewer the AP, the war on Iraq, and the linguistic expert that the AP quoted in their first article. Great stuff.
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.
Saturday, January 14th 2006 at 1:19 am |
I dunno what it is, but I just haven’t been able to stick around for the Colbert Report they way I can stick around for the Daily Show. I do understand what he’s trying to do and what he’s spoofing…I’m just not sure I’m up for a half hour chunk of it as opposed to his shorter duration Daily Show pieces. Guess it’s just not my taste.
Saturday, January 14th 2006 at 6:28 am |
I partly agree with Earl; The Colbert Report is just not as good as The Daily Show. But, that’s probably because The Daily Show is the greatest TV show in history.
I think the reason I like Stewart better than Colbert is because as a host, Stewart is just “himself,” while Colbert is always in character – even when he’s interviewing his guests, which is sometimes annoying.
Sunday, January 15th 2006 at 2:32 am |
Well, I usually skip the interview segment of both shows, unless I’m really interested in the guest. Colbert-in-character can be very funny while interviewing – his gravitas-off with Stone Phillips was hilarious, and he did a bit with an astrophysicist that was off-the-charts. But it’s the first fifteen minutes of each show that I really tune in for, and often I find Colbert’s satire to be just a bit sharper than Daily Show. (Especially now that Daily Show doesn’t have Colbert.) The fact that Stewart sort of comes across as the beleaguered-everyman amidst the swirl of crazy reporters is kind of like someone standing there pointing out the joke to the audience.
Of course, choosing between the two for me is like choosing between a million bucks in cash as either a pile of hundreds or a pile of fifties. It’s a pleasant choice to have to make.
And welcome to Not News, nimblejack. Good to have you.