Colbert: Who Takes Him Seriously?

OhDear · 10-31-2007, 11:49 AM

Well I am leaning toward voting for Obama myself, and that cos I do not suppose I can even have a validated hope that Al Gore will run again, or that Russ Feingold will throw his ring into the hat.

But I did get a bit excited to consider that Stephen Colbert might run!

Here is an article about his "gimmick" campaign...or is it a gimmick?

The cited article: Click here

Quote:

The clever host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" is holding the usually clear-eyed media in the palm of his hand and bringing out the worst in some star-struck journalists who should know better.
New York Times curmudgeon Maureen Dowd beseeched Colbert to write a not-too-funny column for her. (Stick to your night job, Steve.) Noted powerbroker Tim Russert invited Colbert to go on NBC's "Meet the Press" and suck up the rarified air of Washington's elite.
It's depressing to watch respected journalists lower themselves just to tickle Colbert's funny bone. Dowd is the wittiest columnist anywhere, and Russert is the best interviewer in television news. They shouldn't be kissing up to a comedian, even one as talented as Colbert.
Just entertainment
People seem to forget that Colbert and Jon Stewart, the host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," are entertainers. Forget about the "fake news" label that doggedly follows them around. They're e-n-t-e-r-t-a-i-n-e-r-s. Their job is to make people laugh (and, secondarily, think). They're not journalists and would probably be appalled that anyone would label them as such.
Actually, Stewart and Colbert are both failed actors who became talk-show maestros. Stewart's credits include turns in "The Nanny" and "Big Daddy." His best acting work came in the final season of "The Larry Sanders Show." A highlight of Colbert's acting career was his portrayal of a wacko tourist on an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
Colbert has been working overtime to goose sales for his new book "I Am America (and So Can You!)" by chattering on about running for president. What the heck, you know? Maybe he couldn't act more presidential than Hillary Clinton, but he would have to run a smarter (though not entirely funnier) campaign than, say, Fred Thompson. See related column.
It's brilliant for Colbert to use this gimmick as a way to generate interest in his book and TV show. It's almost unfair for a superstar comedian to take advantage of a few weak-willed journalists. I applaud his resourcefulness and shrewdness in playing the media so brilliantly.
Personal experience
Based on my own brush with fame, I can understand how Russert and Dowd feel. In early 2006, I had written that Yahoo News had as much of a chance to win a Pulitzer Prize as "The Colbert Report." Someone on Colbert's staff must have seen the column because Colbert began a show by mentioning what I had written. He proceeded to riff that I had as much of a chance to win a Peabody Award, given out for excellence in broadcasting, as he did.
As the audience hooted, Colbert added that he had one -- no, wait, TWO -- Peabodys. Then he showed a picture of a woodpecker and said it was what I looked like. Wow! I got a lot of phone calls and emails. I was famous, for a minute or two.
A few months later, I met Colbert at the Time 100 party in New York. I introduced myself to him and jogged his memory about being needled on one of his shows. To my amazement, he immediately picked up on what I was talking about.
"The 'Peabody' bit, right?" he asked with a knowing smile. I nodded. "I hope you didn't mind," he said, as if I regretted my 15 minutes of fame.
Sure, Dowd and Russert are already celebrity journalists, but they also want to hang out with Colbert. They can tell their friends and family members that they're obviously cool because Colbert knows who they are.
I simply wish that they would remember that they are journalists, and Colbert is an entertainer. Even in the age of fake news, there is a difference.
MEDIA WEB QUESTION OF THE DAY: What do you take more seriously, the real news of Maureen Dowd and Tim Russert or the fake news of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert?
WEDNESDAY PET PEEVE: Last week, Hillary Clinton didn't win any media fans at her 60th birthday bash at New York's Beacon Theater. Her cheerful, highly efficient campaign workers made sure that many reporters covering the event were kept out during the musical sets by Elvis Costello and The Wallflowers. The move reinforced my suspicion that Clinton and other presidential candidates regard the media as a necessary evil that should not be seen (or heard).
The campaign staff told me that we were barred from the hall because of fire department restrictions on crowd size. I was about to ask how the Clintons could then let reporters into the hall to watch them talk, but I thought better of it and left. I guess you could say, to quote Costello, "I used to be disgusted/But now I try to be amused."
READERS RESPOND to my column about the Fox Business Network's 'Happy Hour': "I agree with your critique of 'Happy Hour.' I was actively looking forward to a CNBC alternative, tired of being yelled at by the know-everythings, but in its third week, Fox Business seems to have regressed to nothing more than FNC with a ticker and elongated market updates." Bob Lieberman
(Media Web appears on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Feel free to send an email to jfriedman@marketwatch.com.)
Jon Friedman is a senior columnist for MarketWatch in New York.

OhDear

tristanrobin · 10-31-2007, 12:14 PM

Heh heh - remember when Pat Paulsen ran for president? LOL

Colbert would be a good man to have in the White House - he'd make us laugh in stead of cringe.