Selected Late Night Shows as a Source of Information and their Convergence with Journalistic practice

This master's thesis focuses on the relationship between late night shows, a specific type of talk show popular mainly in the United States of America, and journalism. It primarily aims to reveal the details behind the convergence of these shows and journalism, find out how this convergence manifests and how significant it is. The thesis describes the history and the present of these shows, including their function as an important information source for the American public. The thesis then clarifies the influence of satire and infotainment in the American media landscape and defines some of the most important journalistic methods and genres. It deals with the concepts of investigative, explainer and constructive journalism. The thesis then examines, using both qualitative and quantitative analysis, three late night shows: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In these three case studies, methods and genres used by these shows are examined, and it is shown how they deliver information to the viewer and what kind of information it is. The thesis also, if possible, assigns each of the shows to the overarching concepts. Finally, the shows are compared, and the thesis determines the rate of their convergence with journalistic..