A “graphic” look at fake news
By
PRINT magazine is running a story on the role of the graphics department in presenting fake news:
Not Necessarily the News
Have fake news graphics taken over the role of the political cartoon? We report. You decide.By Jim Hanas
. . .
The Daily Show is its own political force, inspiring countless think pieces on the vanishing line between real and fake news, and the graphics team—which consists of four designers and a producer housed in a dimly lit bunker across from the control room—is charged with creating the show’s flashy parodies of conventional news imagery … It’s a political cartoon, albeit one that relies on the audience’s grasp of the ever-evolving memes of high-speed visual communication.
. . .
A similar aesthetic reigns at The Colbert Report, which operates with an independent staff and three designers in The Daily Show’s former studio a few blocks away. The show’s manic, patriotic opener, however, was a very different proposition than The Daily Show’s, says Bill Bergeron, who—as a partner in the now-defunct studio Verb! with creative director Greg Duncan—produced both sequences. Before creating Colbert’s opener, the designers scrutinized and dissected graphics from Scarborough Country and The O’Reilly Factor. “We noodled over the meaning behind all of that stuff, and often it doesn’t have any meaning,” Bergeron says. “It’s just sort of ridiculous.” Colbert’s opener is certainly ridiculous, with flags, empty buzzwords, and, of course, the fierce, swooping eagle. “We spent three weeks on that open, and three weeks were spent working on the eagle,” Bergeron says.
. . .
An interesting idea (that graphics have become a sort of modern day “political cartoon”. What do you all think?
P.S. I love that eagle in the opening credits. I literally choked aloud with laughter the first time I saw Liberty “Caw!”-ing into my face.
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6 Comments
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:26 pm
MsI-
While I love the eagle at the beginning of the show, my dog HATES it! It’s actually gotten funny…she has learned the last notes of TDS theme and anticipates the eagle on TCR and sits in front of the TV. If I need to call the dog, I play the opening theme and she comes running-I call it her “alarm clock”. :)
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September 3rd, 2008 at 2:21 pm
I got confused that night when Jon Stewart said it was a hawk and not an eagle – ?
Also I don’t know if you got this yet but here are the guests for the rest of the week:
9/2 – Laura D’Andrea
9/3 – Gavin Newsom
9/4 – Doris Kearns Goodwin
9/5 – David Paterson
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September 3rd, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Jon was referring to the “cry” — it’s not an eagle cry, it’s a hawk. The hawks sound cooler and more bada$$.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I think it’s an interesting concept. What fun it would be to help with the graphics on those shows!
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September 3rd, 2008 at 7:01 pm
When it comes to using the news’ own graphics against them, the precursor was The Day Today and its sort-of offspring Brasseye. They dealt with entirely fake news stories, but a very real presentation style that has now been scarily surpassed by the real networks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUfRcrcbLIM
Also, this bit with a very young Steve Coogan, just because it made me laugh my arse off when I was in school and subjected to this sort of subtle public information film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlbC77GS0Ak
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September 3rd, 2008 at 7:48 pm
every media is the new old media these days. you can’t make a perfect comparison with anything in the past before TDS or TCR.
I liked the 3 weeks fact. I have always been impressed with the opening.
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