If you’re lucky enough to afford cable, you’ve probably seen Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report.”
Host Stephen Colbert, a Bill O’Reilly-esque character who plays the conservative card to comedic perfection, has announced he will be a presidential candidate in the South Carolina primaries where he grew up.
This brilliant move from the dead-pan comedy actor could be seen as a marketing strategy for his recently released book “I am America (and so can you!).”
Then again, all is fair when most presidential hopefuls also have a book to plug.
Whatever his ulterior motive is, Colbert’s latest move can be the beginning of something different taking shape in our society.
As anyone who’s seen his show knows, Colbert’s take on conservative journalists is hilarious and can at times bring him a few skeptics. When O’Reilly had Cobert on his show, “The O’Reilly Factor,” he said the only audience Colbert attracted was college stoners.
What Colbert is doing, like Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show,” is giving the same information that “legit” news media toys around with, only in a different format.
Sure, they aren’t your grandfather’s Walter Cronkite, but they’re our generation’s news saviors. They’re gathering the events that we lazily catch on our local newscast and using satire to poke at the real agenda of any given top news story.
Can Colbert be taken serious as a candidate?
Suppose he isn’t taking his candidacy seriously and it’s all a big hoax. He sure is being taken seriously by Sunday morning talk shows, like “Meet the Press.” The talk show, which can hardly claim a youth following, had Colbert as a guest on Sunday. Colbert who, like Borat, stays in character in every interview, made it clear that he was serious no matter what the media say.
Even if the guy is pulling our chain, he has people talking. More importantly, young people are talking. It’s a known fact that it’s the young vote that gets the least attention because, well, we don’t vote. But Colbert’s attempt at the presidency could potentially mean a hike in young voter participation.
What Colbert is doing in his own satirical way is changing the way news is viewed and bringing awareness to the 18 to 25 demographic.
Many might criticize his methods, but at least he’s making one or two sleepy college students think twice about the way government works.
