Abstract
This study explores how continuity is essential to the processes of social discourse and specifically focuses on its application as a communication strategy used by writers for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on the Comedy Central television network. The concept of continuity is central to making individual experiences meaningful through social discourse. Broadcast journalists contribute to social discourse by using words, sounds, and images to represent stories about events that happened to other people, at other times, and in other places. As young people watch late night comedy shows such as The Daily Show for information about news and politics, they must recognize the meanings of signs that refer to past events and people from remote locations. This essay demonstrates how The Daily Show writers effectively inform an audience that lacks historical perspective about public affairs and politics and is primarily interested in being entertained.
About the author
His research interests are semiotics, media (non-fiction/entertainment), communication, and culture. His publications include ‘The semiotics of media images from Independence Day and September 11, 2001’ (2001); and ‘The semiotic analysis of media myth: A proposal for an applied methodology’ (2001); ‘Truth, semiotics, and the necessary ambiguity of communication’ (2003); and ‘Interpreting India, identity, and media from the Field: Exploring the communicative nature of the exotic other’ (2005).
© Walter de Gruyter
