NEW YORK — In poking fun at the Miss America pageant on the most recent episode of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” John Oliver reached for the comedic equivalent of low-hanging fruit. Then he veered into something wholly unexpected — investigative journalism.
His subsequent report questioning the pageant’s scholarship program was the latest example of how Oliver has quickly moved beyond his roots at “The Daily Show” to produce something distinctive, and usually hilarious.
Oliver, who subbed for Jon Stewart as host of “The Daily Show” last summer and began his own HBO weekly show in April, often devotes about half of his 30 minutes to a single topic below the headlines. He’s discussed gender pay inequality, anti-gay laws in Uganda, net neutrality and the politics of the World Cup.
Remember, this is a comedy show.
His 15-minute Miss America segment began with jokes about how dated a beauty pageant seems, and his incredulity at some of the questions contestants are asked. He took some shots at Donald Trump, who owns a competing pageant. Then he zeroed in on the Miss America organization’s claim of making $45 million in scholarship money available to young women each year.
“Forty-five million,” Oliver said. “That is an unbelievable amount of money. As in, I literally did not believe that.”
His staff researched documents, finding a federal disclosure form that said the pageant spent $482,000 in scholarships in 2012. They researched tax forms on statewide pageants, finding several scholarship offers that couldn’t possibly be awarded at the same time were added together to help reach the final figure. In other words, people shouldn’t confuse money that may be available with money spent.
That’s journalism, minus any apparent attempt to let pageant officials offer their side. The organization subsequently issued a statement not specifically addressing Oliver’s charge that Miss America was being misleading, but said that “as with any scholarship, the full amount awarded may not always be used as recipients plans change or evolve.”
Oliver has journalists who worked at the New York Times Magazine and ProPublica on his writing staff.
Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University’s Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture, calls Oliver’s work “investigative comedy.” Thompson has played the net neutrality segment for his students.
Research indicates that young people are much more likely than their elders to take a deeper dive into news stories that interest them, searching for more information online, said Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute. What Oliver is doing responds to that desire, he said.
“There is a natural link between committing journalism and committing comedy,” Rosenstiel said. “They’re both in the uncovering and unmasking business, but with different approaches.”