Jon Stewart Discussion On The Ferguson, Missouri Coverage

Fruitvale Station depicts the real-life case of Oscar Grant III, a young unarmed black man shot in the back by a white police officer on January 1, 2009 in Oakland. The movie begins with cell phone footage of Oscar Grant’s death recorded by bystanders. Grant’s life was tragically cut short due to a white man’s racism and stereotypical perception of a young black man. The BART police officer Johannes Mehserle abused his authority and shot Grant for no other reason but hatred and racism. At the time of the shooting, Grant was unarmed and pinned on the ground in handcuffs. The movie then walks you through the last twenty-four hours of Grant’s life. As you watch the movie and research the aftermath of Grant’s death you a forced to ask yourself a few questions; why does the media have the right to take away Oscar Grant’s humanity? Where do we draw the line between racism and holding others responsible and will the public’s perception of black men and women ever change? Lastly, we must focus on how this case and others impacts African American society and culture. We also must focus on the necessary changes African Americans must make in order to survive in a world that does not value black lives.

Zinser utilizes his readers emotional appeal, pathos, to prove that “fake” news programs, such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, use “deception and dilution” (365). He states that deception is giving the wrong information on purpose; yet, states that The Daily Show does not claim to be a legitimate news source (Zinser 366). Then, Zinser asserts that he “[assumes] that the audience is

All across the nation, in the news the black community has been making their voice heard, in regards to white police brutality, and murder against the unarmed black community. Many of these brutal attacks and flat out murders of unarmed black people haven’t been largely prosecuted, some officers have even been acquitted of any wrong doing or murder. This has led to outrage in the African American community at large. The shooting of an unarmed black teen named Michael Brown caused the racial strain in this country to break.

They were completing an experiment in which three young Caucasian boys were seen vandalizing a vehicle in a busy park. The experiment was to see how much of a reaction these particular boys would get from people passing by and if anybody would step in or call the authorities. Only one person out of approximately thirty who witnessed the activities contacted the police. When the Caucasian boys were then replaced with those who were of African - American descent, nearly everybody jumped into action and confronted the boys in an attempt to stop them or they ended up calling the police. When the host appeared and asked if the reason the people witnessing the activity stepped in was because of the color of the skin, many of the bystanders stated they would have responded the same way regardless of the color of the teen’s skin. It’s interesting that’s not what the undercover camera crew captured.

McWhorter opens his article by employing the appeal of kairos and telos, by describing the overall timeframe of penning the article, as the case and “…months of lurid televised court testimony- now being dramatized in a series…” (McWhorter, 2016). By adding this piece into his argument, McWhorter is able to ground the audience into the time frame of when his argument is being presented, as this case is going to, once again, enter the public conscience. McWhorter adds the use of telos by adding the reason why he wrote this article, by explaining that he “…wasn’t one of them.”, an African-American that did not cheer when Simpson was acquitted of the two murders, and proceeds to explain why so (McWhorter). By starting off his argument by giving the major reason why McWhorter is arguing his case, with giving the setting of his argument, the audience is able to see why this op-ed is relevant in this moment, with an opposing view of past events being prepared to be delivered.

Dave Chappelle was the king of comedy. He had his own show on Comedy Central, did many stand ups and guest starred in many SNL skits. His works were filled heavily with racial satire with the intent to attack and expose racism throughout America in a non-threatening way. Dave Chappelle’s masterful delivery and extreme horatian satirical techniques allow for top-shelf entertainment with an underlying, thought provoking message.

Samantha Bee’s audience can see that she is more invested to getting to the bottom of her stories and representing what other host may not meet up to standards with. Trevor Noah is criticized as not being funny while presenting political stories. He comes off as crude and unnatural at comedy and politics. Bee has invested her time to going out and researching the hot topics that she believes her audience should be aware of. In the episode titled “Black History Month” she allows one of her writers, Ashley Black, to unveil her comments and judgements concerning stereotypes of Black History Month. Ashley Black is given the center stage to state her concerns about how “white people ruined Black History Month”, with this statement brought upon the show, it gives provides and allows the audience to hear opinions on political matters. Ashley Black can be viewed as a hero because of the way she brings up the subject that most are unsure to talk about. In the article “Heroes and Villains” implies “a mode of perspective that comes with grand presumptions that we all know all the truth about everything… because we’re Americans; we’re arrogant and entitled” (Wilke 486). By calling Americans arrogant and entitled can show how some Americans can take political matters into their own hands and misconstrue the actual meaning

2014: Two years after the death of Trayvon Martin, the world was introduced to Michael Brown, a Ferguson, Missouri Black native who had just become the next victim of a fatal officer involved shooting. In the early morning of August 9, 2014, the 18 year old man was said to be involved in a strong arm robbery of a convenience store. Officer Darren Wilson received the alert from the police dispatch and quickly surveyed the neighborhood until finding a walker who fit the victim’s description. The officer confronted the man, which was indeed Michael Brown, and continued to use aggressive tactics when questioning him. It is still unclear as to what transpired from the time the officer arrived to the ending result, but video from a bystander shows

It is seen multiple times throughout the events in Ferguson, Missouri that the media held onto very biased views on the events. Not just one media source, but majority of the media was taking the side with the public throughout the riots. Some members of the media even marched through the streets of Ferguson protesting what had happened. The media standing with the people of Ferguson was a loud voice, showing that the media was trying to “mete out social justice” (Rothman 22). It was understandable to many why the media was

As stated before the picture emphasizes some stereotypes of a dangerous black male such as a gold tooth, a backwards hat, and of course, it being black. The irony is that the white reporters keep the story moving acting like everything is normal and engage in an argument with the black reporters who are very passionate about this topic. Which is just like modern day America. Some people say white people are ignorant of the racism in America today, while blacks are very aware of it and feel very passionate about it. However, when white people are aware or are trying to be racist they are not necessarily subtle. You can see this at the end of the sketch when one white reporter says, “Next up, why is America being ruined by black people?” This is funny because the audience may think that there is no racial message being sent by the white reporters because of their confused looks after the black reporters rant metaphorically about black ice being oppressed by white snow, but they actually have a whole racist report on why they don’t like black people. Even though it seemed like the white reporters were trying to subtly be racist, they actually have a whole segment on

The racial emotions featured in this film, are evident in some of the most unlikely places, but the most prevalent would be the films conclusion. The event’s Spike Lee presented in the last 20 minutes, were nothing new to the African Americans living across the country during the 1980’s. At this point in time, racial divides and rough action by the police, had become a commonplace situation for many living in Urban Settings. Many of these specific events, such as the murder of Michael Stewart by transit police, or the Howard Beach Incident, surrounding the black males at the pizza shop, correlated to a tea with what happened to Radio Raheem in the film.

A short segment follows with a fake political correspondent or commentator exaggerating the issue or mocking the absurdity of a situation. The show concludes with a guest interview either for promotion of a recent work or for discussion on a current political issue. Due to its blended nature as both a comedy and news show, The Daily Show has been able to ignore both news media and comedy conventions, occupying a space that would make most news shows wince and journalists hesitate. Many scholars and media critics debate whether the show is fake news or reliable journalism.

In the two speeches, “I have a dream” by Martin Luther King Jr and the Ferguson speech by President Obama, both use similar techniques but clash with some points in their topics. Martin Luther King Jr expresses the points of civil rights for a race, while President Barack Obama pleads for non-violence for the town of Ferguson, Missouri. President Obama also expresses his deepest sympathies to the town of Ferguson as Martin Luther King Jr does with the victims of injustice. These two speeches may be about different subjects but in all they use the same techniques to win over a crowd.

Sorkin’s pretentious patronization continues outside of his script and transcends from his mouth to his fan’s justification of their shared special taste, praising the Newsroom’s artistic spin on the, “speaking truth to stupid” plight. (We Just Decided To, 42:11). CBS News celebrity anchor Dan Rather (a white older man) reviewed the series,“I just don't think they "get it"; they've somehow missed the breadth, depth and "got it right" qualities - and importance - of Newsroom.” (Rather). It is this exact ‘they just don’t get it’ format that copies the legitimizing structure of what qualities are “right” in an important show. Among the Quixote references and the specific endorsement of Anchorman Rather, Bourdieu’s positioning ideologies emerge. The Newsroom creates a ‘competent’ sphere operating under an exclusively knowledgeable and tasteful basis, marking and reproducing a formation of class that actively establishes particular models of gender and class (Newman and Levine, 6

Jon Stewart treats the pundits as well as the political figures as propaganda. He discovers the falsities committed by the pundits and the political figures and puts his discoveries out to the public to watch as entertainment.