In times when it is easy and understandable to be at a loss for words, late-night television hosts often find themselves searching for the right ones to say.
In light of the terror attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, late-night was once again tasked with offering a response and making sense of the senseless.
Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and UK-native James Corden delivered heart-filled speeches that sought to bring comfort.
Trevor Noah’s “The Daily Show” is currently on hiatus, but if there’s anything he’s carried over from the Jon Stewart-era of the Comedy Central program, it’s an awareness of the responsibility he faces in times of global heartache.
“It’s not easy,” he told CNN in an interview this week. “I think, in these moments, it would be nice that if as society, we got better at focusing on highlighting our humanity before launching into any political, strategic game plan.”
The attack, believed to be at the hands of a 22-year-old suicide bomber, claimed the lives of 22 people and injured 60, including children.
In the aftermath, Grande’s young fans have rallied around the singer and each other.
“Spend a moment acknowledging their pain,” Noah added. “Spend a moment acknowledging the humanity of the community in Manchester that came together. Spend a moment focusing on the good that remains after the bad. And then when the time comes, you start to analyze when you have the information.”
Noah is not a fan of what he calls “hot takes” — the instinct of news organizations to rush to conclusions or report incomplete information in a rush.
“That’s where the chase to be first has often overridden the chase to be best for the news, the chase to be most informative,” he said. “It’s easy to go back and say, ‘Well, earlier we said this but actually we were wrong.’ But there’s now someone who doesn’t see that part.”
Noah emphasized the need for “a moment to breathe.”
“I think in these moments, it’s about trying to explain to kids — the same way you would with a car crash or a plane crash or an earthquake or any other disaster — what has happened in the most honest way,” he said. “And that’s pretty much all you can do.”
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