“The Daily Show: Discursive Integration and the Reinvention of Political Journalism.” by Geoffrey Baym

Baym, G. (2005). “The Daily Show: Discursive Integration and the Reinvention of Political Journalism.” Political Communication, 22, 259_276.

http://pdfserve.informaworld.com/186123__725849600.pdf

Professor Geoffrey Baym, of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, specializes in media studies, but has completed a thorough analysis of the new look of journalism employed in “The Daily Show.” His interest in the meeting ground between entertainment and news in the current climate reveals that there are very few remaining distinctions between the two separate purposes for the creation of media. In his article, he examines the differences between the communicative approaches of the new pop culture media’s fusion of comedy, politics and news. Baym then juxtaposes “The Daily Show” directly in the midst of these crossroads, and uses this “discursive integration” to examine what makes it different and new compared to other shows of similar theme. He locates and proceeds to break down the converging media environment as “defined by the forces of technological multiplication, economic consolidation, and discursive integration, a landscape in which ‘real’ news is becoming increasingly harder to identify or define.” His analysis provides an exploration of the means by which we create meaning in a world of media exposure, interaction and live journalism which promotes an easier means of reaching deliberative democracy. This article gives us a look into the future of the media and its effects on society, especially in the age of new media.

Baym does a good job of expressing the communicative tools meshing together in the The Daily Show to give it its pop appeal, which can be a useful comparative device for analyzing the similar successes of The Onion. Many people compare the two “news” sources in terms of their ironic approach and mockery of standard informative constructs. His analysis of the authenticity of such “fake” news provides an interesting exploration of the audience’s anticipation of a site or show that readily proclaims itself satirical, thus a useful statistical model for projecting the interpretation of irony in The Onion. Perhaps the fact that both The Daily Show and The Onion rhetorically and visually imitate their news-relaying cousins displays irony even without needing too much exaggeration.

converging media
deliberative democracy
authenticity