Ever watch The Daily Show skewer a politician or military figure with his or her own words, and wonder how they found the video evidence? I'm guessing that the people at The Washington Post were asking the same question. So instead of profiling one of the writers or correspondents, they decided to give the show's "unsung hero," associate producer Adam Chodikoff, his own profile.Chodikoff, who's the show's main researcher, apparently has a photographic memory for what's been said on the various news channels and Sunday-morning political talkfests, which is why he can find footage to use for those great "before and after" bits the show is known for. You know what I'm talking about: Politician X says one thing, then they immediately show a clip from a month to a decade ago of Politician X saying the very opposite. The Daily Show seems to be the only broadcast that calls newsmakers on their BS, and it's mainly because of Chodikoff.
The article goes on to talk about Chodikoff's background -- a degree in political science -- and his knack for pulling out a piece of information that's deep within a story and making a successful pitch to the writers to run with it. He reads eight papers a day and cruises the internet news sites looking for something good.
What he won't read are blogs. ""I'll defend the mainstream media," he told the paper. "I trust [information] that has been edited and fact-checked."
[via Mediabistro]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-30-2008 @ 2:19PM
MK said...
Joel, thank you for this article (and the link to Washington Post's piece)! The Daily Show is a national treasure because of people like these. Keep a good work, Adam! Go get them!
Reply
4-30-2008 @ 2:28PM
kattywhompas said...
I bet he has a touch of the Aspie's.
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4-30-2008 @ 9:02PM
pumpkinhead said...
Always wondered how they were able to pull out these obscure clips among the tens of thousands of hours of video of these idiots blabbering. Thanks Joel.
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5-01-2008 @ 12:35PM
sitruc said...
No offense, but I'm going to save my thanks for Paul Farhi.
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