Athens editorial: ‘Declare Colbert ineligible for Peabody’
Here at Buzz Central, we’re taking up a collection to buy the editorial board of the Athens Banner-Herald a sense of humor.
Apparently, theirs came from one of those rent-to-own joints and they’re only halfway through their coupon payment booklet.
This month, the Banner-Herald used its valuable editorial space to publicly denounce “Colbert Report” host Stephen Colbert, a fake news man on Comedy Central for making fun of a fake nurse and his very real coveted Peabody Award.
During his popular “Alpha Dog of the Week” segment, Colbert saluted Connecticut resident Betty Lichtenstein for creating a Nurse of the Year Award and The Connecticut Nursing Association, the fictitious organization who she claimed awarded her the honor.
Cracked Colbert as he pulled his Peabody from beneath his faux anchor desk: “Now, anybody can make up an award and a fancy association. That’s how I got my Peabody. Look at this thing. The University of Georgia? Ridiculous! There are no universities in Georgia. It’s chocolate.”
In a subsequent editorial titled “UGA should declare Colbert ineligible for Peabody,” The Banner-Herald sniffed:
“Colbert’s sad slide into comedic irrelevance regarding the Peabody Award reached its anticipated nadir earlier this week. . . Colbert is now hoist by his own petard. If, in his mind, there is no University of Georgia, then, on his set, there should be no Peabody Award. Fortunately for Colbert, Southern politesse will keep UGA administrators from moving to reclaim the Peabody. But his obvious lack of respect for the award, and for the august institution of higher education which granted it, should mean that those same administrators insist that Colbert never again be considered for a Peabody.”
Blessedly, the Peabody Awards folks themselves took a more measured response, writing: “We take Stephen Colbert’s notice with good humor. Indeed, because of Colbert’s repeated references. . . it is likely that more people know about the Peabody Award and its association with the University of Georgia today than at any time in its 68-year history. And surely most of his viewers recognize that his parodic references acknowledge the real meaning of the Peabody.”
We eagerly await Colbert’s reaction to the ABH’s editorial. Even money says he works in the word “petard.”
See the original “Report” clip here.
Read the Banner-Herald editorial here.
Read the Peabody committee’s response here.
What’s your take? Are Colbert’s running Peabody references demeaning to the award or should the Athens Banner-Herald devote its editorial space to other more pressing topics?
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© 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
9 comments Add your comment
EJ
August 24th, 2009
2:53 pm
Wow, a blog item from another newspaper that’s a few weeks old. Way to stay on top of things, AJC. You are still daily?
AM
August 25th, 2009
10:46 am
It’s ok, I live in Athens and nobody takes the Athens Banner Herald seriously as a relevant news source any ways.
MW
August 25th, 2009
10:49 am
I’m still in disbelief that the ABH seriously published this editorial. Surely someone over there must realize how over the top Colbert’s show is meant to be and that he never misses a chance to mention his Peabody on the air (a nod to the prestige of the award, even when he’s making fun of it).
gennaro
August 25th, 2009
10:54 am
Enter your comments here
Jim Thompson
August 25th, 2009
11:47 am
I’m the editorial page editor of the Athens Banner-Herald and was also the author of the newspaper’s Aug. 14 editorial headlined “UGA should declare Colbert ineligible for Peabody.”
First of all, let me say I hope all of you who have commented or will comment here will take a moment to read the entire editorial, rather than just the excerpt included above. If you do, you’ll note that the SECOND PARAGRAPH of the editorial includes the phrase “… the ‘Report’ is admittedly funnier, more poignant, and more attuned to the vagaries of the human condition than ‘The Golden Girls,’ but not quite to the level of say, ‘The Facts of Life’ … .
In my mind, that goofily over-the-top reference, placed as close to the beginning of the editorial as possible, was a sufficient tip-off that the editorial was veering from the serious treatment that is normally given to issues on the editorial page into something very different.
In other words, I was attempting to inject some humor into a framework — i.e., the editorial page — that can sometimes take itself a bit too seriously. That’s not unlike the treatment Colbert gives to cable TV punditry, which is the very definition of something that takes itself way too seriously.
In retrospect, as derisive comments began to flow into the Banner-Herald’s Web site soon after publication of the editorial, I should have alerted readers far earlier than I did to the fact that the editorial was an attempt at humor. As an occasional viewer of “The Colbert Report,” I certainly understand that satire is Colbert’s stock in trade, and I also certainly recognize that he is proud of his Peabody Award.
To the extent my attempt to insert some satire on the editorial page failed — and I’m willing to concede it wasn’t at all artfully done — I’m willing to take the barbs issued here and elsewhere.
But, to the extent that there are apparently many readers who didn’t recognize the editorial as at least an attempt at humor, I’m also willing to suggest that the joke is on them.
jp
August 25th, 2009
12:17 pm
Um, not really big on online research, are ya?
http://athensmusicandarts.tumblr.com/post/171330281/really-ajc-are-you-being-douches-too
Richard Eldredge
August 25th, 2009
12:51 pm
On the contrary, JP, here at Buzz Central, we’re quite big on online research and other forms of it for that matter. We’re also quite familiar with the concept of satire (by the way, you may want to correct the spelling of the word in the headline and body copy on your blog. “Satire” only contains one “t”). Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is satire. An otherwise strident Ed/Op piece with a couple of references to 1980s sitcoms is not precisely the same thing.
But thank you very much for reading and sharing your thoughts.
jp
August 25th, 2009
4:24 pm
Really, the nice thing to do would be to own up to it and apologize for calling out a fellow journalist, considering you’re the one who missed the satire completely. (And rather than calling out intentional misspellings, or is “satyre” correct?)
Jamie
August 26th, 2009
10:50 pm
Well, it seems like the Banner Herald isn’t the only one getting sick of Colbert. A lot of other people are waking up to unhealthy and egotistical attitude toward America:
http://christwire.org/2009/08/do-you-really-think-you’re-that-funny-stephen-colbert/