policy with pop

NTV's The District Episode 3: Stop the Presses

The 3rd episode of Newsweek’s The District:

I’ve got to be honest. I’m getting less and less hooked on The District.

I actually got a little perturbed with it. I watched Obama’s first White House press conference. He was not befuddled as the Newsweek spoof made him out to be. The President was really wonkish and had it together (you can read his comments here).

But, that’s when it hit me. Reality television shows usually edit footage to create drama and entertaining moments that didn’t necessarily happen. The juicier the better, right?

But in this instance, we have access to complete, unedited footage of the Obama’s press conference and can watch what actually happened. I don’t mind a little ribbing at any politicians’ expense but it needs to be somewhat true to be funny. Think SNL and Tina Fey’s skit of Governor Sarah Palin’s Katie Couric interview.

What do you think? Was Newsweek trying to make a point about reality television editing? Or was Obama stumped by the press? Or is parody running out of laughs?

Do you still like The District?

NTV's The District Episode 2: "Barack's Friends Let Him Down..."

Newsweek is at it again. Episode 2 of The District follows the tax problems plaguing some of President Obama’s cabinet nominees.

What do you think of Obama taking responsibility of his nominees’ mistakes?

And, what’s up with adding clips of The City and The Hills After Show? I know The District is spoofing them but I personally think the inclusion of those clips detracts from The District. What do you think?

Newsweek Spoofs The City and Obama with The District

Under the guise of NTV, Newsweek magazine has decided to spoof MTV’s The City with The District. The “reality show” follows the challenges President Obama has in his first 100 days in office. Like the Whitney Port show, The District has various clips of Obama and others edited together to inform and entertain. It’s a great mix of policy with pop... Watch the inaugural episode here.

By the way, the Obama-sounding narrator is not really the President. It would be hilarious if the Obama actually took time out of his busy schedule to pull a Lauren Conrad. But the narration is performed by Iman Crosson. Pretty convincing if you ask me.

As each new episode of The District comes out, I will post it here on PolicyWithPop.com. So, watch it and let’s chat about The District.