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In a decade of polarization, click-throughs, and alternative facts, it was the people who take life with humor that have become reliable realtors. The most prominent of these, John Oliver, found the way to connect nonsense and working with the same professionalism and precision that once characterized the new releases

Ilan Kaprov

In the wonderful "Against the Rules" podcast, author Michael Lewis ("The Money Machine") sets out to investigate the decline of judges in modern society and its implications. One of them is the Ombudsman, Public Acceptance Commissioner in the press, who is supposed to examine complaints or requests for amendments in the articles, but also serves as an independent internal auditor for the newspaper, to accurately report facts and raise questions about articles before leaving for print. Just being in the system has created an obsession with small details. Reporters and editors were anxious to write down the drain because of an anonymous citation, or detail that was not well-examined. But this commodity no longer has buyers. In 2017, even the New York Times decided to say goodbye to his ombudsman. Even at one of the last major summits of the press, it was concluded - even if they would never admit it - that sometimes the complex truth required too much.

This is the opening point of a decade that has been the focus of the appeal for the place of truth and its importance, one that has dramatically changed the way we consume information. If in the past we have relied on professional mediators to separate the fiction from us for the fact, then thanks to the algorithms and torque-adjusted torches reversed. Social networks have created an absolute equality between delusional and established. Conspiracies, propaganda and just lies are now regularly making their way from the TV screen, glorifying dubious characters and debating every topic, on any subject. This is the decade in which Fox News became America's main source of information (most widely viewed for 13 quarters in a row), in which news editions lost their prestige and became "magazines," during which Mark Zuckerberg became a translator of white supremacists, neo-Nazis and trolls on behalf of Russia. Freedom of speech of course.

AOC and Zuckerberg's big fight

To the vacuum left by the newspapers and editions, he entered the entertainment scene. Famous people have become influencers whose power to drive crowds has exceeded that of any journalist. Thus, a comedian and a reality star became presidents of the United States and Ukraine, and at a local angle - this is how Eyal Berkowitz and Ofira Assage became legitimate realtors of reality. But cynicism was not only misused. With smart hands, it has become a new tool for presenting information during a time of attention deficit disorder, bottom lines and clickbait. John Stewart was a pioneer in the field during his time at the Daily Show, and the opening monologue in which he used to mediate hourly affairs in a matter of fact absurdity has, over time, become a major source of information for those who have lost interest in the regular editions.

But it was Stuart's protégé who perfected his format for a real revolution. In 2014, HBO launched "The Week That Was With John Oliver," an entertainment news program hosted by someone who served as "chief British correspondent" in Stewart's satirical editions. Although at the beginning of his life, Oliver swore that "The Week That Was" was a comic show and nothing else, in fact she found the perfect middle point between serious and entertaining. Oliver didn't just settle for the restoration of Stewart's monologue, which tries to make fun of the news chaos. The central part of his program is devoted every week to an expanded issue on an important issue for American life. With a vast team of investigators and financial power from the television empire, Oliver revealed to the world how nonsense and current affairs can live together in harmony, if only taken very seriously.

Throughout its six seasons so far, "The Week That Was" dealt with issues such as capital punishment, separating migrant families, voting rights, nuclear weapons, tobacco industries, vaccines, the opioid market, trade war, network neutrality, LGBT discrimination - and these really only mark the tip In regular editions, each of these issues would turn into a screaming discussion in the studio or an interesting interview, but Oliver understood that viewers had long been misunderstood by what they were screaming in the studios, along with dick jokes, photos of underwear hamsters, the purchase of creepy wax dolls and a used egg protector. Russell Crowe has become "the week that was" what we previously learned to expect from the press: the populist separation from the mother Yeti, presents possible future facts and implications, and explains to the viewers what they can do to make an impact.

Regrets

Each episode of "The Week That Was" is based on an intense 5-6 weeks of questioning, archive collection and translation into a 20-minute deliverable product. These are not just explanations, but initiatives that have affected the agenda. For example, the publication of a children's book about the love of a proud rabbit pair (a finger in the dark of Vice President Mike Pence's vis-a-vis the LGBT) - which jumped to 24th on Amazon's bestseller list within 24 hours, or $ 15 million with which the program acquired its debts Less than 9,000 Americans, in a chapter dedicated to companies that made a fortune for acquiring ordinary people's debts, and in a no-holds-barred turnaround, news and entertainment sites began to survey Oliver, his actions and issues every week, if only to channel some of the gold contact In their era of information overflow and alternative facts, a British comedian with American citizenship has become a journalist The most important thing in the world.

The impact of "The Week That Was" is evident everywhere today. Seth Myers, Jimmy Kimmel, and Stephen Culver realized their power as realtors, turning their monologues into the night-time programs from a collection of random punches into a real-world analysis of the day's events. Myers even launched his own lean version of Oliver's with a segment called "A closer look," which devotes 10 minutes of his program to a topic on the agenda, and his competitors do so in alternating frames. Trevor Noah, Stuart's replacement for the Daily Show, made her much more topical and less nonsensical. Standupist Hassan Minaj will streamline his grief as a son of immigrants from India to the Patriot Act, a weekly program on Netflix that covers every chapter of issues like student loans, censorship, the arms industry and mental health. Just recently, Sasha Baron Cohen (during a ceremony where he won the Leadership Defamation Award) delivered one of the most reasoned and accurate speeches voiced against the threat posed by tech giants in general and Facebook in particular on the future of democracy.

Sasha Baron Cohen, moral leader

Whoever has the other side of this equation is the good boy of the night shows, Jimmy Fallon. While his fellow competitors have slowly closed the huge ratings gap that was once part of NBC's entertaining and sterile "show of the night", he has avoided dipping his hand in politics. The only time he did so, in the infamous interview in which he was ruffling the hair of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump - is that Dino was finally sentenced. Difficult reviews have been cast on Falun's tastelessness and tact in websites and in the press, some of which have even increased, stating that this lovable and priceless segment (for Trump) has contributed significantly to his electoral victory. Fallon has since apologized several times, but his plan continues to dive into the ratings tables.

Contrary to Fallon's fiasco, and easily reserved for those who make a living by laughing at people by cleverly analyzing reality, more and more comedians are choosing to offer fans added value and context. The precision and grammar in the details of every fact behind every joke is a modern incarnation of intelligent and fine journalism. The Ombudsmen didn't die, they just developed a sense of humor.

Oliver's change of spirits also came to Israel with "Once a Week with Tam Aaron" here at 11, and noticeable effects on the finale monologue for "Back of the Nation." Alongside embarrassing moments such as those in which Rani Rahab and Sharon Gal glorify the prime minister's wife in a "special interview", Israeli comedians have also begun to embrace topical responsibilities with the comic. In each average edition of one of these shows, viewers learn much more about their life than that of eight in the evening. And though no one deceives himself that Oliver or any of his colleagues are agents of change in a divided and conflicted world - their insistence on a chaotic and deliberately ambiguous reality of facts keeps the torch of truth burning for those who still want it. In general, if we collectively decide that everyone around us is clown, it is encouraging to know that there are those who will not just laugh at our own expense.