'Restoring Truthiness' is the code name for a growing Internet campaign to get talk-show host Stephen Colbert to host a satire of the Glenn Beck 'Restoring Honor' rally.
By Gloria Goodale, Staff writer / September 7, 2010
Can the Internet put Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial? If some 8,000 online supporters – and counting – have their way, the mock conservative talk show host will be hosting the “Restoring Truthiness” rally on Oct. 10 as a sort of satiric counterweight to the Aug. 28 Glenn Beck "Restoring Honor" event on the same steps.
The call for Mr. Colbert to decamp to the nation’s capital began last week as a midnight rambling posted by user mrsammercer on Reddit.com, which was then picked up by the Huffington Post and turned into a genuine Internet movement, complete with a Facebook page, a website, and ardent viral fans.
It is the latest example of what new media analyst Paul Levinson calls the new paradigm for people and and political involvement. “People don’t want to just listen to the messages from politicians anymore,” says the Fordham University author of "New New Media," adding, “They want to be shaping the message.”
Mr. Colbert has not yet commented on the campaign, which recalls the highly vocal and ultimately successful Internet-driven push to bring actress Betty White to host the Mother’s Day edition of “Saturday Night Live.” While calling for an entertainer to hold a political rally in the real world is potentially more serious than egging a network into showcasing a beloved veteran actress, former NBC newsman Richard Berman notes that the line between serious news and entertainment has been blurring for years.
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