Monday, August 18, 2008

Is Jon Stewart The Most Trusted Man in News?


Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Of course, who else?

In the 2007 Pew Research Center for the People and the Press poll, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart was tied for first place with Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, Dan Rather, and Anderson Cooper. As someone who is not an actual news anchor, like the latter four, Stewart is loved in part because of going against the mainstream idea of an anchor.

In a New York Times article, Mr. Stewart and his Daily Show are shown to be more than just class clowns. They do indeed make fun of the teacher's pet, and the jock, and even the hipster, but they do it with wit and biting satire. The Daily Show has quite a following, and contrary to what Bill O'Reilly claimed years ago, the show's audience is one of the most educated of all.

It is interesting to see how Mr. Stewart, 45, started his career as a comedic actor in bit parts, doing some standup here and there, but ended up as a 'news anchor' in a news show aimed to ridicule the Hollywood for ugly people=Washington. If anything else, Mr. Stewart has shown the TV-viewing audience that you don't just have to laugh on the joke shown onscreen--you can be in on it, too.

lhp

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