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| Jon Stewart, host of "The Daily Show" since 1999. |
"the same percentage watched alternative sources such as The Tonight Show, The Late Show, or The Daily Show as watched more traditional cable news such as CNN or FOX News."
As an avid fan of Jon Stewart of The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert of the similar but unmentioned in the book Colbert Report, I did not find these results to be the least bit surprising at all. These are all shows with captivating hosts, very strong fan bases, and the greatest
material of all, real life news stories! Unlike the news shows of many leading anchors like Anderson Cooper or Wolf Blitzer (both of CNN), fans of these comedic spins of current events will often use their "Ti-Vo" or DVR systems to record episodes to ensure that nothing is missed. The format of these shows are pretty much mockery of regular cable news stations. Not only will comedic geniuses such as Stewart comment on the events reported, whether political or just random local news stories, they will show clips of other reporters and their commentaries, and comment on top of those commentaries.
RIGHT:Jon Stewart makes fun of FOX News
conservative personality Glenn Beck.
BELOW: Rally to Restore Sanity and
March to Keep Fear Alive Promo Posters.
It may seem random that I decided to mention Stephen Colbert, as he was not mentioned in the book, but there is a reason behind it. Because not only do comedians like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert deliver laughs about current events here and there, but they also serve as figures of influence. In fact, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert actually teamed up to host a "Rally to Restore Sanity" and "March to Keep Fear Alive" (Headed by Stewart and Colbert, respectively) in Washington D.C. on October 30,2010. This rally was described as a venue for attendees to be heard above what Stewart described as "the more vocal and extreme 15–20% of Americans who control the conversation of American politics." The rally was reported to be a real life satire of both Glenn Beck's "Restoring the Honor Rally" and Al Sharpton's "Reclaim the Dream Rally". Although the march was met with laughs and was chock full of celebrity appearances, in sincerity, Stewart stated his intentions as…
"This was not a rally to ridicule people of faith, or people of activism, or look down our noses at the heartland, or passionate argument, or to suggest that times are not difficult and that we have nothing to fear. They are, and we do."
….This was followed by a commentary about how the media polarizes us, that we don't actually live as Republicans or Democrats or etc. but that every day we live on reasonable compromises that happen every day of people with different beliefs. Truly confusing the mainstream media about their intentions, anchors were left confused on how to describe what the rally really was. All in all, it served as the ray of light in serious ol' Washington D.C. , similar to the way both men's shows have the ability to do the same but on a daily basis with serious news stories.
Although the intended purpose of these shows was purely for the laughs, in Chapter 15 of my American Government book, it says that…
"One study conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania revealed comedy programs actually inform viewers as well as entertain them. Regular viewers of The Daily Show were found to know more about world events than nonviewers, even when education, party identification, watching cable news, and other factors were taken into consideration"
Findings like this hold very true and have given these shows much more credibility than initially imagined. Many educated people tune in for the chance to hear politics being poked fun at, the same way that the viewers would possibly do in their own homes. These shows have grown so credible that even President Obama (as seen in the video on the LEFT) has guest starred on both "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report". It goes to prove that one does not always have to be serious, to be effective.
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