The secret of success
“It is fair to say that we are attracted to complicated topics”, the host assures proudly. Wow yes. Last Week with John Oliver debuted in 2014 and since then has covered a wide range of events such as the presidential elections of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the first post-ISIS elections in Iraq and the pandemic. coronavirus, among many others. Several of these, moreover, were followed by derivative events, such as the seizure of the Capitol by Trump supporters or the wave of deniers and anti-vaccines.
Proof that the world is becoming increasingly complicated, but also how difficult and important it is to decipher which are the most relevant stories to tell. Oliver believes the key is “finding the right moment and angle. With the elections it can be when they are approaching and you want the audiences to know that this is an event with important consequences.
It is fair to say that we are attracted to complicated subjects
The approach is also decisive, because although he understands that the show is classified as informative, the content presented “is not news as such. They are rather problems. We like to try to go in another direction, for something that has not been the focus of everyone.
No less important is the meticulous verification process, essential in journalism, but increasingly forgotten in the search for immediacy. This is not the case with Last Week with John Oliver, where “we worked on main stories for a long time and we want to make sure that everything in them is accurate. So we rigorously check the facts because we don’t want to work on foundations that collapse.” He also assures that “there are many stories that if we did it wrong, they would sue us”, and then correct it. “Not that they have not sued us, they have done it on many occasions, the point is not that they do not sue you, but that when it happens you can win.”
And of course, humor. We are talking about a show that invites all kinds of important reflections, to later play with teddy bears or launch balloons from above. For the presenter it is clear that, although it is an unusual formula, even controversial, it has been key to the success and differentiation of the show. Or as he considers it, “it’s like giving people a dessert after a plate of vegetables”.