Warning: The above video from yesterday’s Last Week Tonight is not for anyone frightened by print media dying, grievous lapses in journalism ethics, and the powerful evils of click-bait. If you’re still reading, brave soul, then you can probably handle John Oliver’s bleak assessment on the state of newspapers, which have for years suffered from shrinking revenues and meager profits from online content. After explaining the importance of press neutrality and having boots-on-the-ground local reporters to cover stories in America’s mid-sized cities, the host introduced a trailer for a fake horror film — ahem, Spotlight parody. The clip stars Vinyl’s Bobby Cannavale as a journalist trying to write an article about corruption while his editor (Jason Sudeikis) pushes more stories around a viral video of a rac-cat (that’s a raccoon that looks like a cat, or vice versa) that Rose Byrne found. Mahershala Ali (House of Cards) and Brian Doyle-Murray (The Middle) are there, too. And really, it’s all very funny. We’re not crying about the future of media. Honest.Â
