Comedy Central - Flagship of Modern Media

Submitted by Adam on October 18, 2007 - 9:15am.

Riding Shotgun with Adam

If I could name one other place I would love to work, it's Comedy Cenral's Daily Show or Colbert Report. Not because of how much I enjoy these shows - and I do love them. Rather, I would love to work for them because these are the flagships of modern media. While John Stewart's humor is biting, Steven Colbert has proved to be a genius in the way he can manipulate modern media.

If you have never watched the Colbert Report - you need look no further than this video of Steven Colbert hosting the 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner.

Together Stewart and Colbert poke fun at both the right and the left (but mostly the right) by demonstrating absurdity with absurdity. Colbert stands in a league of his own for the ability to produce a viral marketing stunt. No one can match him because he understands how modern media works better than any industry insider.

Colbert's most recent publicity stunt was this week's announcement that he is running for office. No one is sure yet whether to take him seriously. He is no stranger to pranks and viral stunts such as getting banned from Wikipedia for changing his entry and the entry of others, making a green screen video for others to edit and post on YouTube, even the UNC Charlot Student Government voted to rename their Student Government Complex the Steven Colbert SGA Complex.

While everyone is outwardly treating Colbert's run as publicity stunt to sell his new book I Am America (And so Can You). He has taken it beyond a simple announcement and has actually had the paperwork filed for both parties.

Colbert could easily cause a rift in the political system that is equal to the rift caused in the Internet by Google, eBay and YouTube. Personally, I can't decide whether I like what he is doing or not, but if anyone can cause the nation to take notice at its own problems, Colbert is the guy.

Now for what I intended to write about. Beginning today, the Daily Show's website has posted 13,000 clips comprising every show that has ever aired broken up into searchable segments. If you have never seen the show, or want to see what the news channels are competing with spend some time searching the archive and watching the show.

If this helped, consider buying me a beer or an Americano!