Stewart's show informs, takes some edge off media
My esteemed colleague on the other side of this page will try to tell you that the seriousness of this year's quadrennial contest to decide the presidency, as well as grave news from around the globe, presents an environment in which frivolities like The Daily Show ought to be eschewed in favor of the stoic seriousness of more traditional media outlets.
Clearly, these are serious times in which we live. It's a pity that the seriousness surrounding us must be viewed through the prism of a presidential campaign, but such is life. In light of that, one must look for someone willing to cut through the fog -thick as pea soup -of partisan bickering and back-and-forth squabbling. That someone, of course, is Jon Stewart, The Daily Show's affable and intelligent host.
Stewart says that his show is not one that ought to be measured against the evening news; but in terms of influence, his show can't be denied. The idea that shows like The Daily Show are dumbing down the youth of America is ridiculous. In fact, a recent survey from the Annenberg Center at The University of Pennsylvania shows that Daily Show viewers are more informed about current events than those who watch other late-night shows -viewers even outscored those who regularly read newspapers and watch television news.
I'm not suggesting that you should stop reading newspapers -I have my future livelihood to think about -and even a little CNN or Fox won't kill you. But when the sexuality of the vice president's daughter seems to be all the talking heads can discuss, a little fun won't kill you, and it can probably help.
-Nick Juliano is a staff writer. Send him an e-mail at nicholas.juliano@ohiou.edu.
A public informed by fake news is frightening prospect
It's a sad byproduct of our hyper-real world that Jon Stewart, host of satiric The Daily Show
appears on talk shows and in interviews as often as actual newsmakers. Because he makes fun of politicians and public figures for a living, people often expect him to comment on current events on NPR or CNN. He too thinks it's a funny phenomenon:
I don't put any stock in political commentating. Political commentators at this point are mostly rewarded by the extremity of their viewpoint. Most of the analysis you see on television doesn't reflect the general sense that the public feels about a situation. It's too sides advocating with no arbitration he told Time's Lev Grossman last month.
In January, the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press released a now-infamous survey that said more than 20 percent of Americans hear first about political news from satiric fake news programs such as The Daily Show or Saturday Night Live.
That's chilling.
And with Stewart's prominence growing, the trend only will increase.
The Daily Show is hilarious and indispensable in our times for people in the profoundly wearying businesses of politics or journalism. But when even its host is bemoaning how much influence people think he has, it's time to pay more attention to the conventional talking heads -boring guys like Tom Brokaw or Lou Dobbs. There'll always be a place for fake news, but these days the stakes are too high to ignore the real stuff.
-Philip Ewing is The Post's managing editor. Send him an e-mail at philip.ewing@ohiou.edu.
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