Jon Stewart

Fox News Ad Says That CNN Is Partisan

Posted by on August 25, 2008 at 11:01 pm. 1 Comments :

In a feat of heroic irony, Fox News published an ad promoting itself that called CNN a partisan network. It is beyond me how they could have completed work on the ad with all the laughing that one would expect to ensue. But they did complete it and it was printed in several newspapers including the Washington Post and News Corp. sister pub, the Wall Street Journal.

The ad relied on data from a Pew study on news audience segmentation. Fox managed to thoroughly misrepresent the results of the survey, and consequently misinform anyone reading the ad. This, of course, is nothing new for Fox who daily misinform their viewers.

The Fox ad highlighted Pew’s finding that 51% of CNN viewers were Democrats and 18% were Republicans. By comparison, 39% of Fox viewers were Republicans and 31% Democrats. From these findings Fox concluded that they were more balanced. Presumably they surmise that the closer the distribution of viewers by party affiliation, the more balanced the coverage. The problem is that balance in viewership is not a measure of balance in news content. Any serious, objective analyst would concede that the content on Fox News is heavily weighted to conservative views. Fox executives Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes have as much as admitted it when they assert that Fox was designed to counter what they believed to be a liberal bias in their competition. It should come as no surprise that such a deliberately partisan enterprise would attract more conservatives and Republicans. And that’s exactly what the Pew numbers reveal, despite Fox’s efforts to misconstrue them.

Left out of the Fox ad was the fact that the 39% of Fox viewers identifying themselves as Republicans is approximately double the amount of every other news network, not just CNN. That disparity alone is revealing. And the 33% of Fox viewers identifying themselves as Democrats is the lowest of all the news networks by a considerable margin.

However the most salient fact to arise from this information is that the ratio of Republicans to Democrats on Fox (39(R) to 31(D)) is the exact inverse of the general population (39(D) to 32(R)).

So the truth is, Fox News is not only not “balanced,” it is the opposite of the profile of American voters. It is the network that is the least representative of the public. And from that they want us to conclude that they are fair and balanced? Sure, CNN’s 51% is an overweighting of Democrats. But at least it reflects the correct majority tilt in the population. The fact that Fox slants its coverage so far to the right explains both its upside down representation of Republicans to Democrats and the exodus of Democrats from Fox to the other networks.

It’s not enough that Fox manipulates the Pew study for their self-serving ads, they are also using it to attack the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart. At a press gathering in Denver, Stewart told reporters that Fox’s “fair and balanced” slogan is an insult “to people with brains” and that he was “stunned to see Karl Rove on a news network as an analyst.” An anonymous flack at Fox (even their PR people are afraid to identify themselves) responded by saying that Stewart was “out of touch” and cited their skewed take on the Pew study as support. But then they went further to deliver a gratuitous and immaterial zinger:

“But being out of touch with mainstream America is nothing new to Jon, as evidenced by the crash-and-burn ratings of this year’s Oscars telecast.”

According to Fox, the ratings of a strike-hobbled awards show is now the measure of Stewart’s ability to connect with mainstream America. Never mind the unprecedented success of the Daily Show. And never mind the fact that Fox News has been been bleeding viewers for the past two years and is growing slower than any of their competitors. For a network that is so demonstrably out of touch, as illustrated above, they shouldn’t be flinging insults at Jon Stewart. They may come to regret that.

As an added plus to this deceptive advertisement from Fox, notice that they are using the elephant logo of the Republican Party in the ad. I assume they are not aware that the Republicans have asserted their copyright protection of that image and have threatened to sue those who use it without permission. I wonder if the Party will sue Fox News for this flagrant infringement. I’m guessing they won’t since Fox is a de facto division of the Republican Party anyway.

Jon Stewart: Ready For His New York Times Close-Up

Posted by on August 17, 2008 at 11:15 am. NO Comments :

It is not surprising that Jon Stewart is getting some “real media” cred. Four years ago I wrote an article titled “The Real Fake News.” It illustrated how far the Conventional Media had sunk. While they were littered with plagiarists, fabricators, tabloid trivialities, and press releases produced by parties with vested interests in the content, the Daily Show was winning Emmys and Peabodys and praise from respected media institutions like the Columbia Journalism Review. The past four years has only validated my argument that Comedy Central is producing a more informational and insightful news broadcast than the so-called “real” media. And news consumers have responded by flocking to the Daily Show and the Colbert Report at the same time that they are abandoning newspapers and broadcast news.

Today the New York Times has published a feature story profiling Stewart. For the most part it is a routine celebrity piece, but it does hit a couple of significant points. I have long maintained that the Daily Show is not political satire – it is media satire. While the jokes frequently target politicians, it is the press that is really in their sights. The Times touches on this concept briefly:

“…at a time when Fox, MSNBC and CNN routinely mix news and entertainment, larding their 24-hour schedules with bloviation fests and marathon coverage of sexual predators and dead celebrities, it’s been ‘The Daily Show’ that has tenaciously tracked big, ‘super depressing’ issues like the cherry-picking of prewar intelligence, the politicization of the Department of Justice and the efforts of the Bush White House to augment its executive power.”

The Times also noted how Stewart amped up his political focus after 9/11 with segments that showed “the White House’s efforts to manage the news media,” and “the foibles of an administration known for its secrecy, ideological certainty and impatience with dissenting viewpoints.” The article also provided a quote that many will be able to relate to. Stewart said that he is looking forward to the end of the Bush administration “as a comedian, as a person, as a citizen, as a mammal.”

Mammals across America, and the world, are cheering in agreement right now.

Jon Stewart: Scaring Conservatives With Comedy

Posted by on January 18, 2008 at 4:30 pm. NO Comments :

The conservative thought model is dominated by confrontation. Rightists are obsessed with hostile imagery. Their loins tingle when one of their heroes utters threatening bromides from the safety of their TV studio. That’s why people like Bill O’Reilly are revered for being bullies. It’s why Bill Kristol and Norman Podhoretz get respect for their proposals to bomb Iraq or Iran or whatever imagined enemy is presently being demonized. It’s the reason that Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee are cheered in debates for alluding to Iranians encountering virgins at the gates of Hell.

Conservatives love their wars and they love to pretend that they would all perform like Rambos were they to meet some vile terrorist in a dark alley. What’s more, they love to bash liberals as weak and insufficiently dedicated to the cause of eradicating the vermin encroaching on our otherwise tranquil paradise.

After 9/11 the cry arose that anything you do that is contrary to the rightist stance on national security means that “the terrorists will win.” Now that catch-phrase has been adapted for the media. Today, anyone who doesn’t kow-tow to propagandists in the press are pansies who would shrink from their duty to defend their country. What we have now is the equivalent of the old schoolyard taunt that my patriotic daddy can beat up your Islamo-fascist daddy. Some recent examples follow:

“The candidates that can’t face Fox, can’t face Al Qaeda.”
…Roger Ailes, Chairman, Fox News.

“If The Times can’t take an argument with Kristol, how can it face down Al Qaeda?”
…John Gibson, Fox News Host.

Notorious wankmeister Jonah Goldberg was a guest on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart a couple of days ago. The fearsome Stewart has apparently frightened some conservative warriors, because now they are complaining about the encounter and questioning whether any of their ilk should venture into Stewart’s lair considering the enormity of the risk. The National Review’s Mark R. Levin puts it this way:

“You have to make a calculation when you go on shows hosted by liberals like Jon Stewart. They are not going to allow you to actually discuss your book. Their audiences are prepped to laugh at whatever the host says and react negatively to whatever the author says. And when their writers aren’t striking, the host is armed with a bunch of jokes to mock the author. So, you have to weigh that against a couple of mentions of the book, and whether the entire enterprise is worth it.”

Oh my heavens! The audience is “prepped” to “laugh.” What dastardly evil could justify that kind of behavior during a comedy program? Levin’s colleague at the magazine, Kathryn Jean Lopez, is also afraid:

“Stewart generally winds up trying to make a joke out of you or your issues, or is just downright unfair. The best shows involve some sort of smart give and take. The Daily Show isn’t generally conducive to such a thing. You’re either in downright hostile territory, or you’re pretending to be something you aren’t – a comedian. It’s just not worth it.”

The bravado of the right seems to be showing some wear around the edges. What became of their zeal to cast Liberals into the pits of Hades? Where is that gung-ho bearing that inspired such feats of daring as shoving a candidate’s aide so that you can beg him to come on your TV show? It seems to me that the only real question here is:

“If you can’t face Jon Stewart, how could you possibly face Al Qaeda?”
…News Corpse, Far-left Internet Smear Merchant

Favorite TV Personalities of 2007

Posted by on January 15, 2008 at 7:15 pm. NO Comments :

Harris Interactive has just released their survey of America’s Favorite TV Personalities. The list was topped by Ellen DeGeneres in a surprise win over Oprah Winfrey. The remainder of list contains some characters who are familiar faces in the news media.

1 Ellen DeGeneres
2 Oprah Winfrey
3 Jay Leno
4 Hugh Laurie
5 Jon Stewart
*6 Stephen Colbert
*6 David Letterman
8 Bill O’Reilly
*9 Homer Simpson
*9 Ray Romano
* = Tie

I am happy to congratulate Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert on their honors.

As for O’Reilly, I would just like to note a few salient facts. First of all, he dropped 5 places this year, from #3 to #8. That may be partly because his fan base is dying off. The evidence of that is illustrated by his support amongst those over 62 for whom he was the #1 choice. It’s also notable that O’Reilly finished just one spot above Homer Simpson (D’oh!), who is making his first appearance in the top 10. My money says Simpson overtakes O’Reilly next year (Woo hoo!)

Fake News Frets About Jon Stewart’s Return

Posted by on January 7, 2008 at 1:00 pm. 1 Comments :

Daily Show

It is the “fake news” purveyors from the likes of Fox News that will be most impacted by tonight’s return of Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show and the Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert. It has been a rough two months while these programs were sidelined by the writer’s strike. But the drought is over and politicians and journalists who have had a free ride will be vulnerable once again to the truthiness of Stewart and Colbert. I have long asserted that The Daily Show is as least as reliable a resource for useful information on current affairs as any supposedly “real” news program (see The Real Fake News).

The Writer’s Guild remains on strike and the many people associated with it are undergoing severe hardship. I would have preferred that these programs returned with their writing staff as did David Letterman’s show, but the complexities of the industry are still presenting obstacles to that scenario. But I also believe that our country needs the insight and analysis that is unique to quality satire, especially in an election year when candidates and reporters are scurrying around like cockroaches in the dark. Now we will get to see what happens when someone switches the light on again.

To be sure, these programs may not return quite the same as when they left. They are much more script-driven than talk shows like Letterman and Leno. Even the breaking news segments covered by a lone host cannot reasonably be expected to be on par with the work of a dozen talented comedy writers. They may attempt to mitigate this handicap by relying more on interviews, but that presents its own set of problems as some potential guests may decline to cross picket lines to appear on the shows. And there will be picket lines.

Although the striking writers have said that their picketing is targeted more at the networks and studios than the program hosts, who have been supportive of the writers, there will be reluctance on the part of some to cross the lines. But we should not overlook another benefit of the return of these programs: the hosts will almost certainly comment on the strike in a manner that is favorable to the writers. In fact, Stewart’s guest tonight is Ronald Seeber, Cornell University professor and associate dean in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) and co-director of the ILR School’s Institute on Conflict Resolution. I don’t think he’s there to discuss the upcoming release of Rambo.

So let’s welcome back Jon and Stephen and wish them well. I, for one will be glued to the set, grateful that the establishment pretenders in the press and the political arena will be subjected to the scrutiny and ridicule they so richly deserve.

Oh…and screw the AMPTP! Support the WGA!

Update: Jon Stewart, as I predicted, delivered an inspired rant ridiculing the AMPTP. He also gave a touching tribute to his absent writers saying that the program “The” Daily Show with Jon Stewart, was the work of a talented team that included the writers. So for the duration of the strike, the program would be called “A” Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Nice touch, Jon.

For the record: David Letterman also offered a tribute to his writers, and those still on strike, when he returned to the air. Here’s a video of Late Show writer Bill Scheft slamming the AMPTP: A Message from the WGA

Stop Hurting America Redux: Free The Daily Show

Posted by on December 16, 2007 at 1:40 pm. 2 Comments :

This is a follow up to my article proposing that the WGA negotiate individually with the production companies of The Daily Show and other comedy talk programs that feature current affairs issues: Stop Hurting America: The WGA And The Daily Show

In that article I made the argument that some of these programs contribute so much to public discourse that their absence was measurably harmful:

“While news programs continue spewing their corporatist, insider views of presidential politics throughout the strike, programs like The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, David Letterman, Saturday Night Live, etc., have become silent. This is not a trivial matter. Many of these programs have assumed a unique role in our culture by highlighting the absurd quirks and contradictions of our politicians and press. The light these programs shine on the political landscape is nowhere countervailed in the dimwitted din of the so-called Mainstream Media.”

“The tenor of our times is too tense to leave to the addle-brained punditry of CNN, Fox, et al. What’s coming round the bend of civic life in America needs to be reviewed and regurgitated by the creative minds that gave us Mess O’Potamia and ClusterF@$k To The White House.”

The day after I posted that article Patric Verrone, the president of the WGA, floated exactly the sort of proposal I was advocating:

“If any of these companies want to come forward and bargain with us individually, we think we can make a deal,”

Well, tomorrow it is going to be made official. The Guild has announced that they intend to invoke a legal right to force producers to bargain with them individually rather than as a group.

“In a letter sent to members on Saturday, negotiators for the Writers Guild of America East and the Writers Guild of America West said: ‘Each signatory employer is required to bargain with us individually if we make a legal demand that it do so. We will make this demand on Monday.'”

“The writers’ move was aimed at breaking what has been, at least in public, a united front by a small number of media conglomerates – General Electric, News Corporation, Sony, Time Warner, The Walt Disney Company, Viacom and CBS – whose entertainment units dominate the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, an industry bargaining group.”

That “small number of media conglomerates” is dominating a lot more than an industry bargaining group. They overwhelm our social consciousness, polluting our sources of entertainment and information with propaganda and commercialism. This tactic by the writers is encouraging on several levels. It hits Big Media at the core of their strength by dismantling the monolithic front that they use to batter down opponents. It empowers responsible production companies that want to fairly compensate their creative personnel and takes them out from under the shadow of their bigger brothers who never had their interests at heart in the first place.

Most importantly, for those of us concerned about keeping a tighter chain on our politicians and press as we get deeper into the campaign season, it provides hope for a return of The Daily Show and its peers. Every day that passes is a missed opportunity to reveal something new and scandalous that will probably be ignored by the Conventional Media.

Stop Hurting America: The WGA And The Daily Show

Posted by on December 3, 2007 at 4:51 pm. 6 Comments :

The ongoing strike by members of the Writer’s Guild against the AMPTP is an important line in the sand for rights of the creative community in Hollywood and elsewhere. The producers have thus far proven that they are far more interested in hording their profits than in sharing credit and compensation with the people most responsible for generating those profits – the creators. But there has been an unanticipated drawback to this otherwise righteous cause that could have a significant impact on our nation.

A month from now the first of the presidential primary contests will take place in Iowa. The campaigns are already at cruising speed and the media is hurtling forward with their usual fare of speculation, conflict and the inane horserace chatter that they think passes for news. What’s missing is the perspective of what has become the most insightful segment of the commentator class in the 21st century – Satire.

While news programs continue spewing their corporatist, insider views of presidential politics throughout the strike, programs like The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, David Letterman, Saturday Night Live, etc., have become silent. This is not a trivial matter. Many of these programs have assumed a unique role in our culture by highlighting the absurd quirks and contradictions of our politicians and press. The light these programs shine on the political landscape is nowhere countervailed in the dimwitted din of the so-called Mainstream Media.

Numerous studies have concluded that programs like The Daily Show are much more than comic relief. They have been shown to contain as much news content as the news programs they lampoon. They are a top source of news for young viewers/voters. They are a staple in the media diet for information about our nation and our world. Two years ago I wrote “The Real Fake News” to juxtapose the legitimacy of the Daily Show as compared to the pretenders in the “serious” press:

“While esteem for the media is spiraling ever-lower, respect for The Daily Show continues to grow. It receives awards for both its humor and its news content. And it performs the function of a media watchdog, alerting us to the hypocrisy, collaboration, and contrivance of the corporate-dominated media.”

For these reasons they should be allowed to continue in production along with the rest of television news programming. The absence of the perspective of The Daily Show could have a measurable effect on public opinion including the presidential race. In just one month since the strike began, there have been stories and events that would have been covered by TDS in a manner that no other outlet would have the courage to get near. Imagine, for instance, Jon Stewart’s take on Rudy Giuliani’s “Tryst Fund” affair; or the CNN/YouTube Republican debate; or the Hillary campaign office hostage crisis; or Bill O’Reilly’s book tour to Afghanistan; or the WGA strike itself. By approaching the news from angles that the straight press ignores, TDS and its peers bring out issues that would otherwise be missed or would fall from the radar before their ramifications could be fully explored.

I believe that our country is being ill-served by shutting down The Daily Show. But there is something that can be done. Because TDS can be plausibly categorized as a news program, it can be given special status with regard to the strike. The union could grant it a waiver to allow it to remain in production. Or better yet, the union could negotiate with the production company on an individual basis. This has been done in previous labor disputes. The production company can agree to terms with the union that can later be aligned with the terms that are spelled out in the final contract. In fact, by negotiating with individual production companies, the union can place tremendous pressure on the companies that do not negotiate, as well as on the AMPTP. It is a tactic that effectively divides to conquer. How long could the AMPTP hold out while their members are signing contracts independent of the Alliance?

I am calling on the WGA to enter into negotiations with TDS, its producers, and/or Comedy Central. It’s time to restore this national resource to the airwaves. The strike could drag on for many months and the loss to our social psyche is too great to rest on the potential for the warring factions to reach a settlement. The tenor of our times is too tense to leave to the addle-brained punditry of CNN, Fox, et al. What’s coming round the bend of civic life in America needs to be reviewed and regurgitated by the creative minds that gave us Mess O’Potamia and ClusterF@$k To The White House.

Any WGA members reading this are encouraged to contact your union reps and push for this solution. It can’t hurt the union (it might help), but not doing so can hurt the country. So please…stop hurting America.

UPDATE: From some comments I’ve received, it is apparent that I need to clarify my position. I am TOTALLY in support of the writer’s strike and their mission to fairly compensate their members and all creative workers. What I am proposing here would ONLY be implemented if those negotiating individually got the terms that the Guild is now demanding (at the least). The theory is that if the Guild can peel off members of the AMPTP who will agree to the Guild’s terms, then the AMPTP is weakened as their alliance falls apart. This tactic has been used in the past by and for the benefit of the union. Both the WGA and the DGA have used it successfully. Perhaps in today’s marketplace, with increasing consolidation and vertical integration, this tactic may not be as effective, but I think it is worth exploring.

I really do think that the absence of TDS and its peers has a measurably negative impact on public discourse. And these types of programs are the most effective media watchdogs around as they put the media in a critical light that no one else does – at least no one with their reach (I do it, of course, but I think TDS gets more viewers than me).

UPDATE II: The WGA agrees with me!

“So it’s interesting that, today, WGA prez Patric Verrone began calling on the more moderate CEOs to break ranks with AMPTP which he claimed is “allowing bottom-line hard-liners to rule the day.” I’ve heard top WGA’ers privately refer to this as the “Let’s Make A Deal” strategy. But it hasn’t been articulated in public until now. “If any of these companies want to come forward and bargain with us individually, we think we can make a deal,” Verrone told AP while conferring with picketing writers at NBC in Burbank.”

Daily Show/Colbert Viewers Most Informed – Fox, Not So Much

Posted by on April 16, 2007 at 10:29 pm. NO Comments :

The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press has published a new study that measures the public’s knowledge of national and international news. The results are not likely to surprise anyone but Fox viewers, who come in at the bottom of the list (they probably don’t know that there is a list – or what a list is). And, although I’m not surprised to see the Daily Show/Colbert Report place high on the list, it is a bit of a jolt to see them at the very top. It would not likely shock Stephen Colbert, and not just because he would have felt it in his gut. While still with the Daily Show he explained why their audience reportedly got much of their news from the comedy program.

“Stephen Colbert, a Daily Show correspondent, has said that he doesn’t believe that viewers learn anything from the show. He contends that, if they weren’t already knowledgeable about political and social affairs, they wouldn’t get the jokes.”

That, of course, is true, and may help to explain these new statistics.

Knowledge Levels By News Source:
News Source High Mod Low
Daily Show/Colbert Report 54 25 21
Major Newspaper websites 54 26 20
News Hour w/Jim Lehrer 53 19 28
O’Reilly Factor 51 32 17
National Public Radio 50 29 21
Rush Limbaugh 50 29 21
News magazines 48 27 25
TV News websites 44 33 23
Daily newspaper 43 31 26
CNN 41 30 29
Google, Yahoo, etc. 41 35 24
Network evening news 38 33 29
Online news blogs 37 26 37
Local TV news 35 33 32
Fox News 35 30 35
Network morning shows 34 36 30

These results confirm previous studies that showed Fox viewers as being, not only the least informed, but also more likely to hold beliefs about news that were demonstrably false. You might think that the quantity and frequency of these studies would have some effect on how the rest of the media deals with Fox. They are simply not to be taken seriously. And their viewers are not an audience that is open to diverse points of view. They are too focused on their fabrications of reality.

While I have not seen a study that confirms this, I don’t believe that Fox viewers are misinformed because of Fox. I believe that they self-select the news source that comports with their prejudices. Anyone who suggests that such an audience presents an opportunity for progressives to convey an alternate view is ignoring the deep-seated, built-in biases that attract an audience to Fox in the first place. Consequently, Democrats would have absolutely nothing to gain by appearing on a Fox-sponsored debate.

The study also makes some good points in support of the position that a decentralized and diverse media universe promotes greater knowledge. The study reports that…

“…people who use more news sources know more than those who use fewer sources.”

Some of this may seem obvious, but the Republican majority commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission still have to be convinced. They are presently conducting public hearings to determine whether media ownership caps should be loosened or repealed. This, despite the fact that numerous studies have agreed with the Pew Center’s conclusions. In October of 2006, the Benton Foundation released a set of studies that…

“…make clear that media consolidation does not create better, more local or more diverse media content. To the contrary, they strongly suggest that media ownership rules should be tightened not relaxed.”

And even the FCC’s own research concurred in a report that was buried, and ordered destroyed, by then FCC Chairman Michael Powell. [You can help persuade the FCC not to allow more consolidation by contacting them through the FreePress-sponsored StopBig Media campaign].

The importance of having varied and independent sources for news has never been clearer. The myopia of Fox and it’s audience is both frightening and depressing. If we ever hope to address the larger issues that face our country and our world, we will need an informed and energized citizenry. But the effect of corporate media megaliths works in diametric opposition to that goal. They are, in fact, producing a nation steeped in ignorance and division, and this study is just another nail in that coffin. Those of us who see through the veil must continue to fight for a truly free press, the keystone of democracy and the only path to true liberty.

The Pew Center has an online version of the survey that you can complete and compare your score with the rest of the survey group.

DeadLines

Posted by on March 21, 2006 at 7:33 pm. NO Comments :

Jon Stewart has been selected to host the 65th annual Peabody Awards.
An appropriate choice since he is also the recipient of 2 of them.

Dan Rather touts Jon Stewart as Andy Rooney’s successor.
I hope he’s wrong. That seems to me to be a demotion. But it must be flattering.

Stephen Colbert will be writing a book based on his Colbert Report.
Says Stephen: “This book will have the same noble goal as my television show: to change the world one factual error at a time.”

The FCC says they are ready to fast-track more media consolidation.
Apparrently the media isn’t satisfied that can’t own TV stations and newspapers in the same market.

A.P. Correspondent Ousted From Job in Vermont
Christopher Graff, a 27 year veteran of the A.P. was fired for posting an article by Sen. Patrick Leahy. The article was contributed as part of Sunshine Week, a media event meant to combat government secrecy and bring attention to the public’s right to know.

The Real Fake News

Posted by on October 18, 2004 at 8:04 pm. 5 Comments :

Speak Fake To Power

The cast and writers of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show have taken on an awesome assignment. While delivering biting satire on the events of the day, they are also savagely exposing the journalistic failure of the conventional media.

Anchor, Jon Stewart, is fond of referring to the program as the “fake” news. He displays an abundance of modesty that suggests that he truly doesn’t grasp the impact this program has on its viewers and its conventional news counterpart. Peter Jennings, in naming Stewart the ABC Person of the week, said that he is

“…the man who often says in public what the rest of us tend to say only in the newsroom.”

The recognition the program receives belies Stewart’s protests that all he does is a funny show on a comedy network that follows puppets making crank phone calls. The show has won five Emmys. It won a Peabody award for election coverage. The Columbia Journalism Review included Stewart on its list of the nation’s 10 most influential political reporters. Newsday placed Stewart on their list of the 20 media players who will most influence the 2004 campaign. Ranking lower on the list were the likes of Tim Russert, Ted Koppel, and Sean Hannity, among others. And yet, when Stewart is confronted with compliments about his strikingly funny presentation of important social events, his response is that

“…that either speaks to the sad state of comedy or the sad state of news. I can’t figure out which one.”

I’m going to have to go with the latter.

The Daily Show’s popularity is significant and growing. It has averaged about 1 million viewers per episode this season, surpassing the total number of viewers for real cable networks like CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. This audience is not, as Bill O’Reilly tagged them, a bunch of “stoned slackers”. According to the National Annenberg Election Survey, Daily Show viewers know more about election issues than people who regularly read newspapers or watch television news. They are 78 percent more likely than the average adult to have four or more years of college education. O’Reilly’s audience is only 24 percent more likely to have that much schooling.

Which is the Real Fake News?

People turn to trusted sources to deliver the information they consider important about their lives and their world. And young people are increasingly turning to The Daily Show. Stephen Colbert, a Daily Show correspondent, has said that he doesn’t believe that viewers learn anything from the show. He contends that, if they weren’t already knowledgeable about political and social affairs, they wouldn’t get the jokes. This is certainly true, but it is possible for well informed persons to become better informed. The Daily Show does this often by juxtaposing a news event with additional relevant information in a way that other news outlets do not. For instance, earlier this year they played a video that aired on most news programs of Bush praising the productive spirit of the American worker in front of warehouse shelves chock full of the fruits of their labor. However, The Daily Show was the only broadcast that aired the camera zooming out to reveal that the scene of the fully stocked shelves was actually a painted backdrop. And in front of the president’s podium was a stack boxes with tape covering the words “Made in China”.

The evidence that The Daily Show is educating or enhancing the education of its viewers is borne out by the fact that viewers are choosing it as a source for news. The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that 21 percent of people aged 18 to 29 cited The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live as a place where they regularly learned presidential campaign news. By contrast, 23 percent of the young people mentioned ABC, CBS or NBC’s nightly news broadcasts as a source.

The Daily Show has proven that it is a trustworthy purveyor of the news. Unfortunately, the “News” has done no such thing. With news fabricators like Steven Glass (New Republic), Jack Kelley (USA Today) and Jayson Blair (New York Times), representing only the fraternity of those who were caught, the mainstream media’s credibility is in freefall. Dan Rather’s sloppy reportage on the Texas Air National Guard’s special treatment of young Lt. Bush helps to speed the descent, as does Fox’s Carl Cameron who posted a false Kerry story on Fox’s web site by accident.

Even worse is when the government and the media work in concert to deceive. The Washington Post reported earlier this year that

“…the General Accounting Office concluded that the Department of Health and Human Services illegally spent federal money on what amounted to covert propaganda by producing videos about the Medicare changes that were made to look like news reports. Portions of the videos, which have been aired by 40 television stations around the country, do not make it clear that the announcers were paid by HHS and were not real reporters.”

WTVF in Nashville is one of the stations that aired the video. They later admitted that they learned of the segment’s fraudulent sourcing from watching The Daily Show’s coverage of the matter.

Recently, Jon Stewart appeared on CNN’s Crossfire. This program should be added to the curriculum of all journalism schools. From the very beginning, Stewart ripped into the famous bickerers and was unrelenting throughout. In the belly of the beast, Stewart accused them of being pawns to the politicians and corporations adding “…You’re part of their strategies. You are partisan…what do you call it…hacks.” He lamented that they are doing “…theater when you should be doing debate.” When Tucker Carlson belittled him by suggesting that he get a job at a journalism school, Stewart replied saying “You need to go to one.” Most memorable, however, was Stewart’s response to Carlson’s insult that “… you’re more fun on your show. Just my opinion.” Stewart fired back “You’re as big a dick on your show as you are on any show.” The next episode of Crossfire had co-host Robert Novak coming to Carlson’s defense declaring that he thinks Stewart is not funny, and that he knows Stewart is uninformed. He did not say how he knows this. Maybe he disagrees with Stewart’s pet name for him: the Douche Bag of Liberty.

This kind of uncensored honesty is almost never seen in the conventional press. But maybe it is just what is needed now. USA Today reported last year that

“Public confidence in the media, already low, continues to slip. Only 36%, among the lowest in years, believe news organizations get the facts straight, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows.”

While esteem for the media is spiraling ever-lower, respect for The Daily Show continues to grow. It receives awards for both its humor and its news content. And it performs the function of a media watchdog, alerting us to the hypocrisy, collaboration, and contrivance of the corporate-dominated media.

If it seems depressingly ironic to you that the mainstream media is now being monitored and corrected by Comedy Central’s “fake” news, the only advice I have is to watch The Daily Show. It might cheer you up for at least half an hour.