ABSTRACT
When late night talk show comedian Stephen Colbert testified before a U.S. Congressional Subcommittee in September of 2010 about the plight of migrant workers, the mainstream media were paying attention. But Colbert's audience arguably wasn't the members of Congress in attendance or the reporters who covered the event. The intended audience seemingly included those who saw the video once it went viral thanks to YouTube, Facebook, and blog mentions. Colbert noted in interviews that he testified because, like U.S. Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren, who had invited him to testify, he wanted to raise awareness regarding the human rights violations that migrant workers experience (Grier 2010b). Colbert and Lofgren were betting that Colbert's celebrity would garner attention for the plight of migrant workers, and might raise awareness about the issue among his vast audience. And indeed, within two months, the video of his testimony available on YouTube had reached one million views. 1
