Social Education 76(4), pp 211–215 ©2012 National Council for the Social Studies Using The Daily Show to Promote Media Literacy H. James Garrett and Mardi Schmeichel While acknowledging that The Daily Show may be perceived as reflecting a particular ideological orientation, Stewart has insisted that any politician or issue is fair game for comedic/critical treatment on his program; indeed, within The Daily Show online archive, there are numerous clips of monologues with pointed critiques of both left and right. In the activities in this article, we describe how The Daily Show can be used to both highlight the relevance of content knowledge and to model a media critique that transcends a specific political orientation, providing students with a set of practices they can bring to the viewing of any news media presentation. We contextualize our work with The Daily Show within the content of Social Studies Themes INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS, ocial studies teachers are tasked from which young people learn political AND INSTITUTIONS; POWER, AUTHORITY, AND with aiding their students’ information. Since becoming the host of GOVERNANCE; and CIVIC IDEALS AND PRACTICES, Sabilities to engage in public the show in 1999, Stewart’s coverage of as well as the NCSS position statement debate and make politically sound elections and political events, and his on media literacy, which argues that decisions. One way we have found to appearances on shows such as CNN’s “If we hope to make learning relevant help facilitate this is to draw connections Crossfire and The O’Reilly Factor, have and meaningful for students in the between content knowledge and current placed him well within the boundaries 21st century, social studies classrooms political conversations through the use of mainstream political conversations. need to reflect this digital world so of clips from The Daily Show with He and his writers have also written two as to better enable young people to Jon Stewart. Social studies teachers books, modeled after school textbooks, interact with ideas, information, and who regularly incorporate attention which are national bestsellers. Their other people for academic and civic to current political events in their work is equal parts satire, political purposes.”1 Promoting media literacy, classrooms are aware of students’ commentary, and silly humor. In this as the NCSS statement indicates, means propensity to introduce Jon Stewart article, we describe how examining the helping students develop a framework into those conversations. The Daily form and content of The Daily Show to understand that all media messages, Show with Jon Stewart has consistently can be used for academic and civic including those on a comedy show, are been reported as a primary media outlet purposes with social studies learners. created for specific purposes and that September 2012 211 these messages carry ideological and political implications. Students need Figure 1. Critical inquiry questions embedded in the NCSS to understand how different audiences Position Statement on Media Literacy might understand the same media text differently, and should develop the Media education built on critical inquiry encourages students to ask probing capacity to evaluate the credibility questions such as: as well as the partiality of any media message. Put differently, the goal of 1. What social, cultural, historical, and political contexts are shaping the media literacy in social studies is to message and the meaning I am making of it? “detransparentize” media in order to look beneath what might otherwise be 2. How and why was the message constructed? self-evident aspects of messages to see how and why they “work.”2 Critical 3. How could different people understand this information differently? media literacy skills are required for active, thoughtful citizens in the 4. Whose perspective, values and ideology are represented and whose are digital age who need to understand missing? local and global events and also need sophisticated tools to understand how 5. Who or what group benefits and/or is hurt by this message? those events are presented through various media. The activities described in this article are aimed for high school social critique. The important point is reporters, he deconstructs media mes- students but could be adapted for that all political comedians rely on what sages, pulling back the curtain on the middle school students as well. people already know and then point out way that the news is contorted to serve the tensions, contradictions, obscurities certain purposes. In this way, Jon Stew- Comedy in the Classroom and absurdities within that knowledge. art’s work models a sophisticated set of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is Understanding their critique requires strategies that students can use in their most assuredly a comedy program. It a sophisticated grasp of social and own efforts to interpret media messages airs, after all, on a comedy network. political processes and institutions. critically. These strategies include the What students may not recognize is that In the same way that using historical ability to contextualize comments into comedy often borrows from and draws political cartoons helps students ideological categories, juxtapose con- upon social studies content knowledge understand and recognize dissent and tradictory statements from the same and has served an important civic role for disagreement around events of the past, speaker, examine the substance of an ar- much of U.S. history. Although the use of The Daily Show can help students look gument, and determine whose interests comedy news shows is not prevalent in “under the hood” of the complex social are being served by the particular story most social studies classrooms, the work and political commentary of current or account on offer. Through an analysis of political cartoonists is. But writers in events. of the way the opening segment reports, both of these genres draw on the same comments upon, and pokes fun at news practices and sensibilities, commenting How The Daily Show Works presentations, students can identify a on symbols and already existing stories While it is an example of a media text template of an approach to “reading” in order to present an argument about a in and of itself, The Daily Show is also media critically that can be applied to social or political topic. We argue that an example of how to conduct a study other contexts. teachers who have recognized the value of a media text. Instead of presenting the Using the critical inquiry questions of using political cartoons as examples of news, The Daily Show covers and cri- outlined in the NCSS media literacy social critique can find similar qualities tiques it. What this means is that the pro- statement (Figure 1), we designed a in The Daily Show. Engaging students’ gram, and in particular the monologue classroom activity, based upon the interest in the funny and compelling that typically comprises the first 10 min- viewing of a monologue from The Daily writing of the show is an opportunity utes of the show, is less a presentation of Show, that asks students to analyze how for teachers to tap into another example news stories than a commentary on the Jon Stewart’s critique of media works. In of the way that comedy provides social manner in which particular stories are particular, we ask students to identify commentary. Comedians from Mark being told.3 Through Stewart’s parody three aspects of the monologue—the Twain to Richard Pryor to Tina Fey of the presentation of the news, as seen content knowledge required to under- have used political material both for in the artful “mash-up” of news clips or stand the monologue, as well as its “easy” performance value and to offer valuable his mocking of both news makers and and “hard” laughs—so they can better Social Education 212 Figure 2. The Daily Show Graphic Organizer political climate and media landscape of the United States. We then distribute Current Events & Video Analysis: The Daily Show the graphic organizer (Figure 2) and Guiding Questions: How does this segment of the Daily Show “work”? What does one have to know in order to “get it”? Fill in introduce its purpose as a template or the compartments of the graphic organizer to prepare for discussion. a guide for students to organize their thoughts during viewing of the clip. Because we are asking students to attend List of subtopics in the segment Types of News to multiple layers of meaning in the clip, footage/sources/networks it is often necessary for the students to watch the clip at least twice. After students have filled out the organizer, analyzing we use it as a resource for a discussion The Daily Show for the next part of our activity: a consideration of the content knowledge, easy laughs, and hard laughs in the clip. Social Studies Content Object of ridicule/Type of joke Content Knowledge The first thing we do in asking students to engage with The Daily Show is to identify what information, knowledge understand how The Daily Show works Appropriateness and understandings one must have in by being simultaneously entertaining, Clips from The Daily Show need to be order to “get” what Jon Stewart is offer- politically incisive, and civically rel- reviewed for appropriateness. While ing. In making a show about other news evant. In addition to describing this ac- profanity is always censored out, sexual shows, The Daily Show relies upon a tivity, we also discuss some issues teach- innuendo and other possibly offensive tremendous amount of “content knowl- ers need to consider in their use of The humor is not. Depending on the policies edge” from history, political science, Daily Show and propose ways for stu- of the school, the presence of such economics and geography.