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Trevor Noah Will Target More Than Just Fox News
Trevor Noah is taking over The Daily Show, and he's ready to put a fresh spin on the way the satirical news show dishes out its witty jokes. Rather than focusing his comedic arsenal on traditionally right-wing networks like Fox News, Noah has made it clear that he'll gladly be taking on a broader array of channels and poking fun of digital outlets as well. With a plethora of options at his disposal, there are plenty of news outlets that Noah and his team could target next.
"I don't have targets yet," Noah told reporters at a press conference last week. "I get to discover the person I will grow to loathe, to hate, and they may not be on Fox News."
During the July Television Critics Association's semi-annual press tour, Noah explained that, with news media shifting to a more digital presence, internet-based platforms and unorthodox channels could potentially be on the menu. "The biggest challenge is going to be ... how we bring all of that together looking at it from a bigger lens as opposed to just going after one source," he said.
Given the thousands of high profile sites and news channels in today's info-saturated world, that task might be more daunting than Noah realizes. Here are a few of the potential contenders that could (or should) be on The Daily Show's radar.
CNN
CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter sat down recently with the South African native to discuss The Daily Show's previous favorite target, cable news. After the Reliable Sources host asked Noah whether he'd be making more jokes about CNN itself, Noah quipped:
How many things are you going to be doing that you consider joke worthy?
Given CNN's past stumbles (specifically its slip-ups in breaking news, such as the Affordable Care Act ruling in June 2012, and its scattered reporting following the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013), it's a fair bet that The Daily Show host won't shy from hitting the cable news network hard.
Gawker
Gawker has had a rough year. Following a lawsuit filed by wrestler Hulk Hogan over a leaked sex tape, a defamation suit from The Daily Mail, and a third libel lawsuit from an angry blogger who became incensed when the website published a story which claimed that he had defecated on the floor during college, it's been a marathon effort to revamp the company's image.
Whether or not the notoriously irreverent Gawker ends up on Noah's naughty list is up for debate — certainly, kicking a man while he's down isn't all that fun for anyone involved. Still, given founder Nick Denton's stubborn attitude toward all of the turmoil surrounding his company, it might not be long before Noah decides to take aim.
BuzzFeed
Known for its quirky titles and unbearably addictive quizzes, BuzzFeed has a tendency to be hugely polarizing. Regardless, BuzzFeed has been chugging along, picking up and dropping followers at a rate unsurpassed by most other outlets (a recent Forbes report stated that the website's average monthly audience topped 69 million).
Still, given Noah's dry humor, his underdog status, and his penchant for taking on the establishment, poking a bit of fun at the busy news and entertainment outlet might very well be on the new Daily Show host's to-do list.
ESPN
Making jokes about the behemoth sports network might not seem like an orthodox choice — but then Noah hasn't ruled out the possibility of blasting outlets that go beyond the scope of traditional news media. When asked by CNN's Brian Stelter what sorts of networks were on the chopping block, Noah replied:
It could be any news. It could be any news that we [at The Daily Show] feel speaks to something. And if the show can accurately vocalize that and disseminate that, then we've achieved our goal.
It might not be such a bad idea either: With a bevy of distasteful, sexist commentary sullying the network's reputation, along with a number of small, but equally hilarious scandals peppering the media headlines (including one incident this past spring, when the network allegedly refused to pay $20,000 in prize money to a 12-year-old boy who had tied for first place in ESPN's March Madness bracket challenge), making ESPN the butt of The Daily Show's jokes would be the perfect way to usher in the new brand of outsider-perspective humor that Noah brings to the table.
