WP, pg1, Kurtz: Campaign of a Comedian (Jon Stewart): Real Impact

[DeepModem Mom]

The Campaign of a Comedian
Jon Stewart's Fake Journalism Enjoys Real Political Impact

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 23, 2004; Page A01


Jon Stewart, fake journalist and proud of it, keeps insisting he's just a comedian.

Night after night, "The Daily Show" host lampoons President Bush as a tongue-tied bumbler, Donald Rumsfeld as a mad ranter who resembles "Pete the crazy guy outside my apartment," the war in Iraq as a giant "Mess O' Potamia" and the reporters who cover the presidential race as self-important clods.

Such sharp-edged skewering has turned the Comedy Central funnyman into a cultural phenomenon who, despite his protestations, seems to be having some undefined, irony-drenched influence on how the campaign is perceived. He's been on the cover of Newsweek and now graces the cover of Rolling Stone. His "America (The Book)" is the nation's top seller. He has analyzed the media as Ted Koppel's guest, dissected the party conventions as Tom Brokaw's expert and ripped into his hosts on "Crossfire" for presiding over "theater" and "partisan hackery."...

***

Stewart, 41, has announced that he plans to vote for John Kerry, who made one of his few television talk show appearances in recent months on "The Daily Show." That might come as little surprise to viewers who have watched Stewart relentlessly mock Bush while just poking gentle fun at Kerry's ponderous speaking style....

***

....with a program that more than doubles the audience of "Hardball" with 1.2 million viewers -- many of them in the hard-to-reach younger generation -- Stewart's comedic spitballs are leaving their mark. Half of 18- to 29-year-olds say they regularly or sometimes learn things from late-night comedy shows, a Pew Research Center survey found. Fourteen percent of "Daily Show" viewers say they are liberal and just 2 percent conservative. Only 17 percent of the program's audience is over 50....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55440-2004Oct22.html

[watercolors]

1. Husband and I

in that 17 %, would'nt miss the show! He is honest and refreshing to watch, and enjoy the rest of the cast very much.

[Skittles]

2. people are hungry for real news

and like it or not, our "fake journalist" provides more real news than ANY "news" show.

[MagickMuffin]

3. And better educated

& informed than O'Reilly.

I watch his show everyday that it airs, because he presents the news like a breath of fresh air. I also watch c-span and read news online...

I haven't watched much cable news since I saw how they dis-informed/misinformed the public during the 2000 elections. What they did to Al Gore and now what they are doing to John Kerry is disturbing and dishonest.

The news media has no morals or decency. I don't believe in the way news is reported by the news media, and that is why TDS is so appealing to me, because they point out what is wrong with the media that makes me laugh my ass off!

[ClintonTyree]

4. I'm one of the 17% then..............

and my daughter in College tells me that 11:00 EVERYTHING stops for The Daily Show. It's good to see the Nation's youth can discern between "fake news show" like CNN, FOX, MSNBC and "Real News" that comes from a comedy channel.
Really, someone would get a far better understanding of the issues facing us from The Daily Show than they would from the other "ligitimate" news channels. That is a sad commentary on the state of news programs in our country.
Jon Stewart is a god, I wonder if he has any political aspirations? He'd be damn good at it, that's for sure.

[Swamp Rat]

5. My 73 year old father and I watch it religiously.

No matter where we are, we drop what we are doing/drive home just to see the Daily Show. I've watched Stewart's Crossfire appearance (downloaded an mp4) over a dozen times. I only wish that the #1 "douchebag of liberty" was there to be grilled too, like Fucker Carlson.

[TxGran]

6. Another 17%er

I watch every night, and even try to catch the afternoon re-runs. I think he is having an impact on this election.

[UpInArms]

7. Welcome to DU TxGran!

We're glad to have you here!

:hi:

[The Zanti Regent]

8. MEANWHILE, Kurtz and HIS WIFE Whore for the GOP 24/7

Which is Why Jon Stewart has credibility and WHOREWARD KURTZ has none!

[DeepModem Mom]

9. Ironic that the WP "media critic" is one of the worst offenders --

although this story is not bad.

[leftchick]

11. who is Kurtz's wife?

:shrug:

[gulfcoastliberal]

12. Sherri Annis

She's a repug strategist and worked on Gropenfuhrers campaign. He often covers for her and her allies.

[THUNDER HANDS]

13. heh

you said Annis

:evilgrin:

[gulfcoastliberal]

16. gross, huh?

Wonder why she wanted to keep her maiden name.

:smoke:

[robbedvoter]

10. 3 generations in my family watch it - me from the start

I am worried about articles like this. I remember similar comments about comedy before leno & letterman started attacking Clinton (still do)

[sonias]

14. Jon Stewart has just beat them at their own game

He's taken infotainment to the logical step. If people want to be entertained first, then make it smart entertainment and the audience still learns something. It doesn't have to be "husband killed pregnant wife" news 24/7.

Cable news is 24 hour repetition of the same news story. I think the country is getting tired of that. Stewart gives us important news and great interviews plus great comedy all in 30 minutes. Much better value for your busy time.

All the smart people watch The Daily News. News for Nerds.

Sonia

[Tracer]

15. There's a TV show in Boston called "Greater Boston"...

... hosted by Emily Rooney (daughter of Andy), and on Fridays they do a thing called "Beat the Press", disecting stories that the press has focused on and critiquing the press coverage.

Whether they do this well, or have their own biases, is something else.

Last night they were talking about Jon Stewart and Emily claimed she'd only seen the show once or twice (and didn't think it was funny), and the rest of the pack were only interested in criticizing Jon for not staying in his place as a comedian Ñ seeming to miss the fact that his show is, in its own way Ñ actual political commentary! A show that slices through the political and medai bullshit with a very sharp knife.

[Longhorn]

17. My husband and I are both 49 and we watch TDS every night it's on

or record it if we're not home and watch it later. And we are currently listening to his book on CD (I'm on disc two; he's on disk one) and it is absolutely hilarious. We were just discussing last night that you have to be pretty well informed about government, history, and current events to find TDS and "America, the Book" funny -- otherwise, the jokes will go right over your head (except for the bathroom/sexual humor, of course.) More proof that O'Reilly was wrong about TDS's audience of "stoned slackers."

[Indykatie]

18. Another in the 17%

I learned about the show as a devoted lurker at DU. I love the show and try to catch it every day.

[DeepModem Mom]

19. Welcome, Indykatie! (I lurked a long time, too.)

[starroute]

20. "Some undefined, irony-drenched influence" ???

"Such sharp-edged skewering has turned the Comedy Central funnyman into a cultural phenomenon who, despite his protestations, seems to be having some undefined, irony-drenched influence on how the campaign is perceived."

I'm having a major flashback to the "Something's happening here, but you don't know what it is, do you, Mr. Jones" period of the 60's counterculture.

How many words does it take for a reporter to say, "I just don't get it"?

The real importance of The Daily Show has damn little to do with either irony or even comedy. Jon Stewart speaks the Truth, and that's why he is a god. And not only that, but The Daily Show is an excellent litmus test to pinpoint those who wouldn't know Truth if it bit them in the ass. (As it will.)

[DeepModem Mom]

22. Very perceptive, starroute -- and clueless Kurtz is the WP "media critic"!

[Anarcho-Socialist]

21. I get to watch TDSWJS via helpful bittorents since I live in the UK

My American brother-in-law gave me and my wife a tape of TDS and we were addicted since then.