And that's the way it is...now
Sarada Peri
Issue date: 12/6/06 Section: Op-Ed
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Stephen Colbert's appearance in the Kennedy School forum could be the most popular KSG event ever. To be sure we love our fancy-pants military experts, our C-SPAN political figures and our controversial foreign leaders. But students were clamoring to get into the Colbert event and security was almost as tight as for John Negroponte's follow-up appearance. The interviewer (think quintessentially awkward, bowtie-wearing undergraduate who appeared desperate to climb out of his own skin) mentioned a burgeoning black market in the Yard for event tickets. When greeted with a deafening standing ovation, Colbert quipped, "I feel like I'm in the Thunderdome!"
Colbert is to our generation what Walter Cronkite was to generations past. Our parents and grandparents voted Cronkite the most trusted man in America because he earnestly gave them straight news each and every night. They viewed him as an honest presenter of unadulterated information that they, given their "Greatest Generation" burdens, needed to know. Cronkite's news style complemented their way of life. They believed in their sacrifices and their contribution to the country. They believed in Cronkite's integrity and that the information he presented was factual. In essence, they believed in his authority.
But in whose authority is our generation to believe? We've grown up in a time when the farce of government remains so unexamined that we look at coiffed nightly newscasters under heavy lights and heavier makeup and can't bring ourselves to believe what they say. Few in our generation have been called upon for service and sacrifice, while many find such notions almost na've. After all, we are the generation that watched
Oliver North implode in his own lies on television…only to score his very own program on Fox News two decades later.
For these reasons, we trust the "news" presented by the Colbert Report and the "journalist" presenting it because he's cynical and condescending about the honesty of "truthiness". We put faith in the power of sarcasm, a sarcasm the mainstream media doesn't necessarily get. After his appearance at the White House Correspondent's dinner, Colbert received lukewarm reviews for his scathing portrayal of the White House press corps' unwillingness to investigate and report government hubris. The media was offended when he essentially called
Colbert is to our generation what Walter Cronkite was to generations past. Our parents and grandparents voted Cronkite the most trusted man in America because he earnestly gave them straight news each and every night. They viewed him as an honest presenter of unadulterated information that they, given their "Greatest Generation" burdens, needed to know. Cronkite's news style complemented their way of life. They believed in their sacrifices and their contribution to the country. They believed in Cronkite's integrity and that the information he presented was factual. In essence, they believed in his authority.
But in whose authority is our generation to believe? We've grown up in a time when the farce of government remains so unexamined that we look at coiffed nightly newscasters under heavy lights and heavier makeup and can't bring ourselves to believe what they say. Few in our generation have been called upon for service and sacrifice, while many find such notions almost na've. After all, we are the generation that watched
Oliver North implode in his own lies on television…only to score his very own program on Fox News two decades later.
For these reasons, we trust the "news" presented by the Colbert Report and the "journalist" presenting it because he's cynical and condescending about the honesty of "truthiness". We put faith in the power of sarcasm, a sarcasm the mainstream media doesn't necessarily get. After his appearance at the White House Correspondent's dinner, Colbert received lukewarm reviews for his scathing portrayal of the White House press corps' unwillingness to investigate and report government hubris. The media was offended when he essentially called
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