Maybe we should always show pictures: This is excellent...humor, of course, but a pointed commentary on photographs in the news as well, touching on issues of censorship, transparency, and the public's right to be grossed out.
I actually saw this on the show last night and decided to post it (after thoroughly perusing Comedy Central's Terms of Use*, of course—apparently it's okay with them), and then, this morning, a number of emails were waiting for me pointing me to it. If you can't see it here, it's also available on Comedy Central and at
Hulu.com.—>The Daily Show—>clips—>Face/Off.
Mike
* "...you may embed videos using the Video Player, provided you do not embed the Video Player on any website or other location that (i) contains or hosts content that is unlawful, infringing, pornographic, obscene, defamatory, libelous, threatening, harassing, vulgar, indecent, profane, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, encourages criminal conduct, gives rise to civil liability, violates any law, rule, or regulation, infringes any right of any third party including intellectual property rights, or is otherwise inappropriate or objectionable to Hulu...." Whew! I can only hope we are upright and righteous enough to avoid all of those things.
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Original contents copyright 2011 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
Featured Comment by Mike Plews: "Part of me wants the picture released but I also don't really want to see some idiot wearing it on a tee shirt."
Unfortunately, this video seems not to be available to viewers in the UK.
Posted by: David Grieveson | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 08:31 AM
David,
That seems unfair. If I can get Top Gear here, you should be able to get The Daily Show there....
Mike
Posted by: Mike Johnston | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 08:34 AM
Yep - it's a real pain not to have access to the Daily Show anymore [More4 - a UK TV channel available in Ireland used to show it but not anymore, it seems]. In related pain, why can't we in Ireland buy TV episodes from iTunes either? Or mp3s from Amazon?
Maybe they all heard that there's no money in the country anymore...
Posted by: John Smyth | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 08:40 AM
Speaking of photographs as "evidence," two huge unrelated events in Obama's presidency last weekend were strangely related in terms of "what a photograph tells us."
The president's release of a photograph of his birth certificate apparently did nothing to change the minds of those who most strongly dislike him; instead it seems to have actually fueled the flames for conspiracy theorists.
That experience surely reinforced for Obama the reality that "the more evidence that is released, the more material that conspiracists are given to exploit." That in turn may well have influenced his decision to not release the bin Laden death photos.
I understand AP is suing to get the bin Laden photos released. I personally hope it doesn't happen, because history suggests it would only increase, not decrease, the noise level.
Posted by: MM | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 08:59 AM
It's a good thing we have such a hard working Moderator at TOP (and Mike, I think you should pay him much more than you are doing, perhaps even a couple of dollars an hour). Otherwise, TOP would be full of content that is unlawful, infringing, pornographic, obscene, defamatory, libelous, threatening, harassing, vulgar, indecent, profane, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, encourages criminal conduct, gives rise to civil liability, violates any law, rule, or regulation, infringes any right of any third party including intellectual property rights, or is otherwise inappropriate or objectionable.
Although that said, TOP has featured content by both Richard Prince and Bruce Gilden, who between them appear to tick all of the boxes in the list above. ;)
Posted by: James | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 09:01 AM
well... Release the photos! It's nothing which shouldn't be seen! It won't pervert our children. It's only a photo of a body of a killed man, it's not a nude!
Posted by: Bernard Piechal | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 09:31 AM
Hilarious!
Posted by: text to screen | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 09:32 AM
In the UK so I can't see it. I did see Chris Steele Perkins on Newsnight discussing why he felt the picture shouldn't be shown with an historian who felt that it should.
Perkins won the debate, for me.
Posted by: Sean | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 10:03 AM
Wonderful. It's the best news show on TV. And in an encouraging note, it's apparently where most of the youth and young adults of this nation get their new from.
Posted by: MBS | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 11:29 AM
My question is why release the photos except to satisfy the interests of a bloodthirsty public? Is that reason enough? Is this the modern corollary of public guillotining?
Let's be honest: If the US commandos *hadn't* killed Osama -- i.e., if the President was lying -- wouldn't bin Laden have released a "Ha ha, I'm still here" video the very next day?
Posted by: Robert Noble | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 11:30 AM
Canadians (and possibly others) can find the video at http://dailyshow.thecomedynetwork.ca. Just click on the episode of May 4.
Posted by: Timothy | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 12:09 PM
Couple of things:
1. I think the unspoken reason a lot of people want to see the photos is because of the same impulse that makes people gawk at bad car accidents and go "Ewww, gross".....
2. I think Mr. Stewart has a good point:
We're so eager to see the gory shot of dead OBL, but God forbid we should have to look at any photos which make us see the true face of war.
I've always be interested in the fact that the people who cheer the loudest for war are often the ones who are the first to squeal with outrage if the media shows an image of a dead and bloody American soldier....
Think it would be better if we faced up to the truth of war, and owned up to its ugliness. Maybe it would make us much wiser in deciding whether to fight a war is really worth it, rather than treating war(as sometimes seems to be the case) as if it were just a glorified game of football....
Posted by: Paul W. Luscher | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 01:11 PM
Love the part about the coin. But that shot at Al-Jazeera was low and stupid, if I understood it correctly.
BTW, saw a screenshot yesterday that made me think CNN is dead and buried. If there was a race between Al-Jazeera and CNN, Al-Jazeera won because the opponent disqualified itself.
Posted by: erlik | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 04:10 PM