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Comment by alistairSH | Hacker News Reader

No, Tucker Carlson is not news. He's a pundit/commentator who has a talk show. Neither is John Oliver. I'd almost say they're flip sides of the same coin, except Carlson trends WAY right (often right into conspiracy theory land) and Oliver is more center-left.

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Oliver is fairly far left wheres Tucker is closer to center

LOLNO.

Tucker is right wing. He also has a very casual relationship with the truth.

Oliver is definitely to the left, but he also doesn't lie.

Oliver is a journalist, though. That's why Snowden granted him an interview first, before anyone else in the world.

Sure, he's humorous, but he's not offering his opinions except in the most general terms. He follows facts, not hype.

I thought he was a comedian.

He is a comedian, and always denies being news. That doesn't change the fact that his show is one of the most informative shows on TV. It absolutely is journalism what he's doing. He's just dressing it up in jokes.

Oliver's background is in entertainment and comedy. As far as I know, he's never had a traditional journalism job.

Carlson started his career as a journalist, working for right-wing publications.

Yes, but being a professional journalist doesn't presently correlate with journalism skills or integrity. His work is closer to good journalism than most TV news programs or "news hours".

Funny world we live in.

I don't disagree with that. There's something broken in journalism today, for sure. No way should an admitted comedian/entertainer provide better news than many "real" news outlets.

No, John Oliver is most definitely a comedian.

...who nonetheless has solid journalistic methods.

I believe he's the face of journalists behind the scenes who do all the heavy lifting work.

See this is where John Oliver (and before him, Jon Stewart) are really duplicitous. They talk about the news in a certain way that implies that they have done their research and are delivering useful information, but they crack wise as they are doing so, in such a way that obviously fits in with whatever narrative or reaction they're trying to sell. And then when they get called out for being dishonest or biased, they say, "wait a minute, I'm just a comedian!"

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