7.5/10. Good episode. Snarking on Olympic coverage is super easy, but John Oliver and his staff are damn good at it, so even though they weren't breaking a lot of new ground there, it was entertaining enough to get a pass on that front.
I also liked the main story on journalism and how changes in the industry have made news gathering a much more fraught and fragile endeavor. I especially appreciated that Olver pointed the finger at himself, noting how much research the show uses from print sources. That said, one of the things I usually like about LWT is that it typically doesn't just point out problems, but instead also suggests solutions, or at least steps that would lead to progress. Here, he didn't do that, but at least acknowledged that no immediate solutions are forthcoming, particularly since people have gotten used to expecting news to be free, and the longer that goes on, the less likely it is that people are going to be willing to pay for it.
Overall, a good episode, though one that feels like it scratched the surface of a bigger issue rather than captured all the complexities of a more narrow one.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-08-09T02:24:51Z
7.5/10. Good episode. Snarking on Olympic coverage is super easy, but John Oliver and his staff are damn good at it, so even though they weren't breaking a lot of new ground there, it was entertaining enough to get a pass on that front.
I also liked the main story on journalism and how changes in the industry have made news gathering a much more fraught and fragile endeavor. I especially appreciated that Olver pointed the finger at himself, noting how much research the show uses from print sources. That said, one of the things I usually like about LWT is that it typically doesn't just point out problems, but instead also suggests solutions, or at least steps that would lead to progress. Here, he didn't do that, but at least acknowledged that no immediate solutions are forthcoming, particularly since people have gotten used to expecting news to be free, and the longer that goes on, the less likely it is that people are going to be willing to pay for it.
Overall, a good episode, though one that feels like it scratched the surface of a bigger issue rather than captured all the complexities of a more narrow one.