The people who watch The Ed Show, a weekday afternoon program on MSNBC, are regularly invited by bombastic host Ed Schultz to participate by tweeting comments regarding the topic under discussion and take part in polls that are so slanted, they're bound to overwhelmingly mirror the host's wildly liberal views.
While being interactive with your audience is a laudable goal, the process also provides viewers with the opportunity “for some good ol’ fashioned trolling” that leads to getting comical and nonsensical tweets on-screen during airtime.
In an article on the Mediaite website entitled “How to Successfully Troll MSNBC’s Ed Schultz," Andrew Kirell states that “journalists can be trolls, too. And with hilarious results.”
One interesting feature of the show is “the Twitter scroll,” Kirell noted. “The big monitor behind Schultz, as well as the lower-third crawl, features a curated selection of tweets that feature the hashtag #TeamEdShow.”
“While a majority of the tweets are earnest and fully encouraging of the host ('We love you, Ed! Keep up the great work!'), the process has allowed the Washington Free Beacon's Andrew Stiles (and a “colleague” named Biff Diddle) to troll the 5 p.m. program during the past several months.
“I accidentally got on the show one day after directly quoting one of Ed’s insightful comments about the GOP (they’re racist, etc.),” the digital managing editor told Kirell. “After that, I thought I’d see what the bar was for liberal nonsense they’d allow on the air. Turns out it was pretty low.”
Kirell and Stiles then listed seven items in a lesson on how to successfully troll Ed Schultz.
First, make nonsensical rhymes that could conceivably double as Big Ed slogans, such as “While Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney bathe in gold, America's poor bathe in cold.”
“Coddle preconceived notions while being slightly off-topic” is the second way to get your tweet on-screen. Here's an example: “Chris Christie is TOTALLY obsessed with himself. Loves sound of his own voice!”
Third, “exaggerate the truth to a goofy extent while still patting Schultz on the back,” such as “Mitt Romney ran on Keystone and LOST!”
Writing “sarcastic praise” is next in the list, and an example of that is: “Loving the laughs on a Friday, Ed! Killin' it!”
Then, “propose something so ridiculously populist that Ed might actually like it. “How about a MAXIMUM WAGE?” falls into this category.
Sixth, behave like a “concern troll with outlandish scenarios,” such as “America needs to wake up and #StopKeystone, or Manhattan is going to be underwater by 2050!”
And finally, “emulate the host” with a comment like this one: “REPUBLICANS CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!”
Another feature of The Ed Show is the posting of such ridiculously leading poll questions as “Are Republicans angrier than two black labs fighting over a toy?” or “Do you think Republicans want to make poor people poorer?” or “Are conservatives the new Confederates?”
“Viewers bust out their cellular devices to, uh … agree … with Schultz’s premise,” Kirell noted.
When asked why Stiles (and “Diddle”) take such an interest in The Ed Show, he replied: “For those of us who are required to watch MSNBC all day, it offers a brief respite from an otherwise unbearable programming schedule.”
Meanwhile, Kirell noted, “Biff Diddle” could not be reached for comment.
HT: Andrew Kirell, Mediaite.com
