Joey Skaggs, and the art of the hoax
April 18, 2020 10:17 AM Subscribe
ANGLING FOR THE JOURNALIST: Concoct a well thought-out story. TV news producers, writers and reporters are greatly under the influence of Hollywood. Hollywood is equally influenced by what appears in the news. Our culture is reflected in both of these forms of media. So it’s important to combine the necessary theatrical elements to attract them. In essence, give them what they want! The Well Cooked Journalist: A traditional Joey Skaggs recipe (PDF). From "Cathouse for Dogs" and "The Fat Squad" to "Portofess," "Baba Wa Simba," "Metamorphosis: Roach Cure," and "Solomon Project," and more recently, Trump's Kool-Aid Marathon, artist, activist, educator, and notorious media prankster Joey Skaggs is a master in the Art of the Prank [trailer; full documentary; his own write-up on the docu].
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I think that's a shame. I'm not familiar with Skaggs' work, but if he's to be taken at his word (I know, tough ask for a prankster), his ambitions are laudable.
“What does Joey Skaggs do?”--
“I create social, political, satirical media hoaxes. And they are designed to fool the press. And also to have a message in them. And I guess the message really is about media literacy. How to understand we are being manipulated at times by governments through the news media, by corporations, by people with an agenda to give you information that isn’t necessarily true.”
Media literacy? That is sorely needed right now. Which brings me to quote from another video I watched earlier today--Coronavirus V: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) 2020-04-19
“That actually our story tonight. The bad information flying around about this virus and the places people are getting it from. Because there are a lot of media bubbles out there and getting a glimpse outside of the one you’re in can be eye opening.”
05:30 “Here in the US one of the biggest and most robust bubbles is the right-wing media sphere. […] the most powerful host [of conservative talk radio] is undeniably Rush Limbaugh. […] The problem is many in conservative media have found it easy to fold this virus into narratives that they have been carefully building up for decades. Limbaugh has spent years pushing his four corners of deceit which consists of government, academia, science and the media. Which unfortunately happen to be the four most important groups to listen to during a public health crisis.”
Skaggs says he manipulates the weaknesses of the media as an artist, prankster and claim to teach media literacy.
I'm not up to the challenge of critiquing Rush Limbaugh just responding to this post. I suspect he juggles his audience's desire for emotionally powerful entertainment, with the weaknesses of "government, academia, science and the media" to not be capable of giving us real truths as emotionally satisfying as his fictional truths.
I mean--the scientific method? True until proven false is just not satisfying. Or, It's the economy stupid!
posted by xtian at 10:26 AM on April 23, 2020