John Stewart

Jon Stewart 's Influence on Network News with The Daily Show

From comedian to political iconoclast , Jon Stewart 's influence on the publics ' perception of news in general and politics specifically is as powerful as it is ironic . What started out as an approach to comedy based on satirical interpretations of such seriously-toned shows as Crossfire , The O 'Reilly Factor or Hannity Combs has become one of the most watched soft news shows for national audience , and is the most popular show with the emerging voter segment of 18 - 24 year olds

according to multiple research sources including Baumgartner Morris (2006 ) and Pew (2004 . The format of the show seeks to emulate and satirize a daily news cast , anchored by serious and often self-important hosts like Bill O 'Reilly for example

In satirizing daily news , Jon Stewart has opened up political discourse nationally for the common man , poking fan at and in the case of the challenge to Tucker Carlson during his famous visit on Crossfire challenging the self-important and pompous host with making a living by promoting political divisiveness and infighting . This direct confrontation of the more serious and often pedantic shows where pundits often look to advance their own agendas (Postman 1986 ) and careers as commentators , The Daily Show and Jon Stewart have succeeded in creating a harsher , more realistic , and more comedic version of political news that is for many , a better alternative than watching talking heads debate endlessly . Where The Daily Show has succeeded is in creating a mix of the comedic and political insight that viewers want . As many researchers have said including (Jones 2005 ) that Comedian-hosts have a different license to speak offer political critiques beyond the scope of wheat news and pundit political talk have previous imagined ' The line between news analysis and comedy is constantly being crossed , and the highly successful spin-off of The Colbert Report , which is a parody of itself , is evidence that this mixture of political commentary and humor works . Jon Stewart has revolutionized his show specifically using comedic interpretation of events and analysis that other news shows treat with pomposity , self-importance and intensity . As a result of these jabs at traditional news media , according to (Pew 2004 ) younger voters consider The Daily Show as their primary source of political information . The apex of this influence was seen on Monday September 15 , 2003 when John Edwards , Democrat of North Carolina , announced his candidacy for President of the United States on the show . In addition Bob Dole has been on eight times , John McCain (R-AZ ) visited six times Joe Liebermann (IND-CT ) four times , Michael Moore , five times , and Bill O 'Reilly , three times . The Daily Show has become a political force due to its comedic transparency , attractiveness to young voters in the 18 - 24 age bracket , and willingness to take risks with political content for a laugh , according to (Baym 2004

The problems of the 24 /7 news phenomenon that impact both hard and soft news channels have actually benefited...