About the Studio

About ‘The News is a Joke’

This studio, lead by Ruth Richards, looked at the theories and practises that aid in creating a successful television comedy news production. This genre was explored “through viewing, reading, discussion and the making of various comedy news segment” (Richards 2018). Shows such as the Daily Show, Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, Last week tonight and Full Frontal were used as case studies to examine concepts such as fake news the appeal of television comedy news as a form of entertainment.

Through an understanding of satirical news theories the studio was able to participate in creating a refined 30 minute show titled ‘Early Afternoon’. The show is comprised of 4 engaging segments that covers and makes social commentary on a variety of serious and light-hearted headlines. Students of the studio where given a hands on experience in researching, scripting, developing and producing all aspects of the show. Emulating real production challenges and creative possibilities that come along with creating a news segment in a industry standard studio.  

 

  • What is ‘News Satire’

Satirical news is a form of parody that mimics mainstream journalism to make traditional news more digestible, informative and opinionated. The genre has been criticized for blurring the line between entertainment and information. This complicated relationship may attribute to its recent surge in popularity due to today’s current climate of distrust towards politics and mainstream media. It is though this more entertainment ordinated way of delivering news that has engaged a younger audience showcasing its ability to a more digestible way of presenting news. Furthermore, its potential for shareability and reach have left a lot of traditional media outlets promoting this idea of Comedy news being ‘fake news’. Despite the amount of research and transparency in delivering the facts.

The TV Studios

One of RMIT’s greatest resources is its industry level studios found in building 10. The News is a Joke students had the pleasure of familiarising themselves with the technical aspects of a studio when being introduced to Studio C. The smaller scale studio allowed for students to try different technologies and roles in the pre production phase. From there, the class progressed to using Studio A during practises and in final shoot for out final show. Alongside these studios we had access to an array of props and sets that really helped all members of the cast and crew get into the mindset of official media practitioners.