Young Americans See Colbert, Stewart Replacing Traditional News Outlets: Poll

A new poll released Wednesday by Rasmussen Reports found that about one-third of Americans under the age of 40 believe that shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are replacing "traditional" news outlets.

Thirty-two percent (32%) of adults ages 30-39 believe this to be true, while 42% disagree, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Thirty percent (30%) of those ages 18-29 say programs like the two Comedy Central shows that feature news reports with a comic twist are replacing traditional news outlets, but 35% disagree and another 35% are not sure.

According to the poll, nearly 39 percent of adults say shows like Stewart's and Colbert's are helping Americans stay informed about current events, and around 21 percent say the shows are "at least somewhat influential in shaping their political opinions."

Many traditional media outlets, like daily print newspapers, are already suffering from a lack of regular readership and severe budget shortfalls. Papers are cutting back from daily publication, and some, like the Rocky Mountain News and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, are shuttering production completely, and switching to online-only news. Papers all over the country are shedding jobs, cutting pay and closing bureaus.

Other news outlets are only doing better. Viewership is up at Fox News, and more people than ever are tuning in to NPR.

Comments

[PublicusOrator]

So much for the intellectual capabilities of the younger American citizenry. This surveys gives truth to the inadequate performance of the American educational system and as to why celebrity media broadcast and print are so rampant. God save our country.

[Spalkan]

Would you rather they listen to the talking heads on CNN, FOX, NBC, etc.?

[kate99]

you get more news form colbert and stewart than any news show for sure plus you dont get the thing like at fox that is one sided the daily show and colbert report go after both sides

[ichan]

I travel alot and marvel at how different the news is around the world. US news has really become "Infotainment". I expect it from Stewart/Colbert and on talk radio, and I am a junkie, but I wish the news was a little more straight forward. Now with the internet I also Like watching boring, plain news broadcasts from Europe and Asia occasionally, especially on the big issues and many times I understand the issues better, with a lot less coloration or different kinds of spin. There's spin no doubt, from the POV of the country and it's interests, but this is usually a POV that can't be had even with Stewart/Colbert and talk radio.

[gypsysailor]

I'm an OWG, (old white guy), and I would rather get my news from Stewart and Colbert and NPR than anyone else in America. They may be poking fun of all the other news organizations out there, but for the most part they are accurate. And when they are not, they suck it up and make the necessary corrections.

Fox and friends spew the worst bulls#!$ I've ever heard in the world with their no-it-all (no pun there), distortions of what is going on in the world. Hell even al Jezzera is more accurate than they are in reporting the news. Having spent more time than I cared to in the Middle East, I can state that with honesty. And please don't get me started on Rush the Magic Commentator. Now there is someone that could use a good wormin'.

[roger37]

Yo--I'm 71 and I watch Stewart and Colbert, too. I'd rather get their treatment of the lunacy that goes on in DC and in my Senators' offices than the bland, uninspired crap on the local network affiliates.

Yes, Stewart mugs way too much, and Colbert's ego is almost uncontrollable, but if you can get past that, they back up the points they make with facts--video clips, etc. By comparison, the right-wingers pull supporting facts out of their nether regions.

[Kahawa]

Well, I'm only 56, but I'm with you all the way. I have to watch Stewart and Colbert online or in repeats since they're on past my bedtime, but I'm addicted -- not because they're news reporters, which they are not, but because they help me regain my perspective. I also hate the fact that TV News does not allow me to skim through the news and past the ads (unless I pay extra for TIVO): so of course NPR has always been my main source for news.

[elr50]

Rush is not into women. He is into little boys.

[Nicolas Navarrete]

As far as TV goes these 2 guys are a far-cry from the MSM conglomerate talking heads that are on cable. They actually seem sane for one and don't provide any type of political spin. Only the satire makes it worth watching as its usually hilarious at worst and inspiring at best.

[deanimal]

I enjoy both shows very much and consider them must see tv. The thing is you need to know the news in order to get the irony and sarcasm. Their version of the news is an abstract, funny yes, but not complete. The real problem I have is trying to find the real news.

[StellaRay]

Yes, deanimal. "The thing is you need to know the news in order to get the irony and sarcasm." Kind of like Picaso telling you he couldn't distort the human body effectively till he knew the reality of it. And yes, it is indeed a problem these days to find the "real" news. It's all drowning in pundits and analysis these days.

[elr50]

You know the news media is in bad shape in this country because we get news from comedy shows and comedy from news shows.

[thefooligan5]

The problem with this is that neither Stewart nor Colbert are news reporters; They are editorialists. As much as I love these shows they fill the exact same niche in the left-wing television market as Hannity or o'reilly do for the right-wing television market: People watch to have their already preconceived notions of reality and politics enforced by a respected public figure. Granted my personal bias is that these two gentlemen speak the truth in their commentaries while the Fox new commentators preach fear and hatred, fans of the right-wing programs undoubtedly think the exact same of our preferred media figures. The main difference I can see is that in Stewart and Colbert's commentary we can not only feel satisfied by hearing our own notions being preached on national television but we can also remain positive and laugh throughout the process. The right wing television programs leave their audience far from laughing and more toward taking inventory of their various guns and/or bibles.

[whosyourdaddy]

Not a bad comment till you got to this:

"The right wing television programs leave their audience far from laughing and more toward taking inventory of their various guns and/or bibles."

Actually, almost half of FNC viewers are non-conservative. That explains where democrats are during prime time news hours.
Ironically, your last sentence places you very accurately in the demographic (extreme left) and invalidates your previous effort to project a reasoned unbiased analysis.

[Kahawa]

I'm interested in your statement that "almost half of FNC viewers are non-conservative." I don't know a soul who watches that channel, so I'm very ill-informed. Please give me your source. Thanks!

[trunk65]

Only a consumate pro could comment on The Divine Comedy that our political landscape has become, and keep a straight face, so it is fitting that two comedians are looked to for 'facts". I miss Hunter Thompson, who once said,"When the going gets tough, the weird turn pro."

[rnadna]

The Cable news Channels are dead. Last holdout for me is Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow. When they go that will be it for me. No more! Nada! Finis!

[skymuffin]

Over 40, too. Our "news" channels are put to shame. Look at Deutche-Velle or the BBC and compare it to what we have.

No wonder we need to "read between the lines" and go to Comedy Central in order to figure out what's going on in thw world.

[BlackFlon]

News from comedians??? These guys don't report news. They laugh at it. Anyone who watches them with the idea of getting actual hard news is deluding themselves.

[Darren Shea]

I think, after the last 8 years, anyone who thinks the press has been doing their jobs and actually presenting hard news is deluding themselves. Jon Stewart has been pointing out the Emperor's nudity while "real" newsmen like Brokaw, Blitzer, and Matthews have been complimenting the Emperor on his fine tailoring.

[swift goat pet for truth]

What I got from Corporate Media News was that the Monica Lewinsky thing was really worth the effort, and Iraq really needed to be invaded, and we weren't really occupying it.

And anyone who opposed Bush in any fashion was a traitor.

And, yes, I got that feeling from the New York Times.

[reggieb]

Maybe we are witnessing the demise of the 24 hour news channel. I've long thought they should be called the "speculation" or "sensationalism" channels anyway.

[Konnie]

its so sad that the 24/7 news channels couldn't just keep to repeating the news........

that's what they were created to. Back in old days, you had to wait until 6:00 to
turn on that newfangled thing called a televison and in the glory of black and
white snow watch a 15 minute summary of the world news. 15 minutes! You were
spose to read the newspaper you bonehead! then it was expanded to 30
minutes! AND you picked your favorites - huntley and brinkley- walter cronkite,
later barbara walters and her co-anchor of the month.....­.......you could turn
on the the today show in the morning and get a couple minutes of the news
in between recipes and the chimp.....­..........­.Ted Turner was brilliant to start
CNN, too bad he sold it. Thank the Lord for C-span! and NPR, and the BBC.

[AvangionQ]

Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart are the modern day equivalent of the court jester -- they're satirists who are allowed to speak the truth about any topic they choose in a humorous manner, with little fear of reprisal ... that such satire is more politically relevant than the news stories that are used as source material is a statement contriving the quality of mainstream news, or lack thereof ...

[WierdWookie]

I am OLD, and would not miss The Daily Show. Stewart is more than a comic.
The show has real news ans is an alternative to FOX and CNN. CNN doesn't seem to give news, rather they make news with panels of so called experts. Boring.

[taurus96]

I agree,I am also a senior and I love them both.Cable news experts only work for salary. Does anyone know what Chris Matthews finally got for signing new contract ? He used the I might want to be a senator line. I think the young people have it right, their America will be very different than ours. And if we do not like it we only have ourselves and the last ten bad years to prove we leave them nothing.

[snapshot1940]

I'm 69 and I find Stewart's and Colbert's gonzo journalism as relevant as most of the "Straight" news on the major networks. Stewart's post Katrina interview with Brian Williams was hardly humorus as it brought out information that had been completely glossed over on the nightly news programs. And Stewart's interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer was as sharp and cutting as Murrow's confrontation with McCarthy--and, yeah, I watched it way back then. Isn't it interesting that the networks have devoted so much time to the Cramer interview if it was just fluffy comedy.
It was noted in the article that Fox's viewership was up which really goes to prove that people are more interested in watching clowns make fools of themselves. Hannity is really doing a great job of imitating Colbert's wingnut opinions--He is playing it for laughs, isn't he?

[Hopeington]

More people than ever... Go NPR!!!