By Elaine Magliaro
It seems to me that we get much of our best coverage of news stories from comedians/comedy programs these days. I’m a big fan of The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Last Week Tonight—which is hosted by John Oliver. On Sunday, Oliver did a segment on American drone strikes that beats most news stories on the subject that we’ve gotten from the mainstream media. That said, I have to acknowledge intrepid investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill. Scahill has done his part to cover the subject of drone strikes over the course of several years. Yet, we rarely see journalists like Scahill being interviewed on the Sunday morning “news” shows.
John Oliver on Drones
Asawin Suebsaeng posted an article about John Oliver titled ‘Last Week Tonight’ Does Real Journalism, No Matter What John Oliver Says over at The Daily Beast today. You may want to read it.
‘Last Week Tonight’ Does Real Journalism, No Matter What John Oliver Says (The Daily Beast)
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Flowers For Socrates 
I like the same programs that you do. Why? Well, the writers of these shows actually analyze the news. They take delight in letting us know when politicians are speaking out of both sides of their mouths, let me rephrase (they are always talking out of both sides of their mouths), they take delight in giving us the specifics of what they said then vs what they are saying now. It’s so rare to find it elsewhere.
Stewart has a knack of finding great talent. I didn’t have high expectations when John Oliver took over for the summer but that didn’t last long. He’s terrific! How long before Jessica Williams has her own show?
Bettykath,
I think Jessica Williams is a really talented comedian too.
Same here, Bettykath, Esquire, Rolling Stone, Daily Show, Colbert et al…I seem to roam in the same dark corners as Elaine.
I was saying that the most important issues I read about this year I read in Rolling Stone, which is fascinating in some strange way.
Matt Taibbi’s reports on the banks and their ownership of the system blew my mind, but not as much as the fact that no one else seemed to have picked it up.
But…yeah, Jessica Williams is sure to find stardom. Is she a writer too? She has that vibe.
John Oliver’s show is must watch tv.