What "On the Media" and "The Daily Show" Have in Common

Two of my favorite ways to keep up with current affairs are, "The Daily Show" on comedy central, and NPR's "On the Media". They both appeal to me because they each take a step back and look at what the media, reminding me that they are not some oracle passing down "the news", but organizations, consisting of people, making sometimes flawed decisions about what to cover and how to cover it.

The Daily show makes fun of the media both directly via John Stewart's monologues, and via the parody performed by its corespondents, packing a lot of "funny cuz' it's true" punch. Of course, I don't need to tell you that; everyone loves The Daily Show!

If you do like The Daily Show, check out On the Media. It takes a more serious, thorough and legitimate approach to talking about the media, but provides a similar satisfaction. A recent example is from last weeks show, where they did a story about how the media has covered the crappy conditions of Walter Reed. The story seems to have broke only recently with The Washington Post's story, but it's pointed out that this story has been covered by Salon's Mark Benjamin for years.


On the Media (podcast)