HBO’s John Oliver examined the woeful state of modern American journalism on Sunday’s episode of “Last Week Tonight,” focusing on the suffering newspaper industry.
Oliver reiterated the importance of newspapers and how websites and cable news networks rely on the industry for a lot of their content, citing numerous examples including previous segments from his own show as well as others across broadcast TV.
“Whenever this show is mistakenly called journalism, it is a slap in the face to the actual journalists we rely on,” Oliver said before explaining how decreased circulation and ad revenue have taken a toll on the industry.
Oliver noted that the digital-first strategy of many modern newspaper companies has led to clickbait-style news and slipped in a few jabs at Las Vegas mogul Sheldon Adelson, now the owner of Vegas’ largest newspaper, as well as to Tribune Publishing’s new name, Tronc.
“Tronc. They have chosen to call themselves tronc,” Oliver said. “The sound of a stack of print newspapers being thrown into a dumpster.”
He also presented the clip from an updated version of Oscar winner “Spotlight,” starring Jason Sudeikis as an editor who cares mostly about cat videos rather than investigating institutional corruption. The supposed film’s title? “Stoplight,” of course.
Check out the video above.