Winnipeg Free Press - December 4/08
Fake News Index: Charting the Media Parody Industry
With President George W. Bush on his way out of the White House and Barack Obama set to take office in early 2009, satirists like Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and the entire writing staff of The Onion and SNL are probably wondering where they are going to get all their content from for the next four years. Under a Bush Presidency, the fake news industry has exploded. It has even been suggested that 20 somethings get more of their news from these type of parody programs than from actual journalists. Although it seems like these programs are merely a product of an inept President, they are are nothing new.”In these trying times, satire might be the most rational response to reality. Perhaps that explains why fake news, satiric journalism, news parody—whatever you call it—has proliferated” writes Rex Sorgatz for Wired Magazine. “The modern roots of this industry (yes, it is undeniably an industry now) can be traced back at least to Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds news bulletins of 1938. Since then, countless permutations of journalistic fakery have taken root, from incisive, trenchant fabrications by The Onion (“U.S. vows to defeat whoever it is we’re at war with”) to slapstick gags like Obama Girl (“Don’t Cry for Me, Alaska: The Sarah Palin Story”). Some satirists aspire to a form of transcendent truth-telling. (Thank you, Jon Stewart) Others are just in it for the yucks.”
The Time Machine
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past two years, you’ve probably heard of the wildly popular video sharing site, YouTube. With millions of users and new advancements in technology, it was only a matter of time before some eager YouTubers took the idea behind the choose your own adventure books and did it with video. The Time Machine is a new viewer driven video short story created by the comedy team behind chadmattandrob.com. You determine what happens and hold the key to seeing how the story unfolds. Although The Time Machine is the first out of the gate, Entertainment Weekly believes that this is ” the beginning of a new era for YouTube videos.”
Robot Chicken: Star Wars - Episode II
For the second time, Seth Green’s pop culture skewing Robot Chicken tackles the Star Wars franchise. If you don’t have The Cartoon Network or can’t wait for the DVD to be released, a few of the scenes have been uploaded to YouTube. Like most major broadcasters, The Cartoon Network restricts online video content to viewers from the U.S. It’s too bad Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS and other networks can’t sort out their licensing agreements and remove those pesky restrictions that usually block Canadians from streaming online content.
WOXY Holiday Mixer
Tired of the traditional holiday music that is impossible to escape in December? Tune in online to WOXY from Los Angeles for their annual Holiday Mixer and hear acts like The Ramones, Prince, The Pogues and The Pretenders give their own spin to holiday music.
