Jon Stewart: Still The Most Trusted Newscaster in America

Just last Friday we lost the most trusted man in America. This week we've anointed a fake journalist his replacement. Or so Time magazine would have us believe.

http://www.timepolls.com/hppolls/archive/poll_results_417.html

Nothing to get apoplectic about, even if you are Anderson Cooper or Rachel Maddow fans. This poll, based on a whopping 9409 votes, is a vox populi selection. Who would you rather have represent the voice of the people--Brian Williams (who's that?) or faux pop journalist Jon Stewart? For any liberal under 50 (Stewart is 46), the answer is clear.

To be fair, Brian Williams came in second place in the Time poll, but my Newhouse School and Cal State Fullerton students don't gush about Brian Williams and NBC Nightly News as they do about Jon Stewart and The Daily Show.

Time's poll is just reconstituted news. It's so 2004. Jon Stewart has been in this category of a most trusted newscaster for years. He didn't catapult to the top in the post-Cronkite era.

It was Stewart's appearance on CNN's Crossfire with Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson on Friday, October 15, 2004 that cemented his reputation as the only honest broker about what was happening to the real news. Stewart had always maintained that Comedy Central's The Daily Show was shtick journalism. After all, puppets making crank calls preceded the program at the time.

Crank Yankers, like Crossfire, would later be cancelled. I'm sadder about the demise of the former. Much more creativity there.

On that October day in 2004 Jon Stewart called on Begala (Democratic hack on the left) and Carlson (Republican hack on the right) to move away from their partisan bickering and become more responsible news people. He told Begala and Carlson that they were "hurting America" for continuing to serve the American people partisan hackery porridge for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Just a few weeks before Election 2004 and Bush's reelection to a second term, Stewart called on the so-called real news networks to take their jobs more seriously. Instead of blowing hot air at each other, Stewart asked why Crossfire didn't do real debate. Calling Crossfire a debate show, he quipped, is like "saying pro wrestling is a show about athletic competition."

Stewart was both funny and serious, which seemed to catch his hosts, particularly Carlson, off guard. It made for astounding live television. Stewart fired a shot across the bow of serious news. Unless the major cable and network news broadcasters did their jobs better, the American people would move away from CNN to shows like his that didn't hold pretenses about being anything but entertainment delivery systems for the news-savvy.

Most memorably in the eyes of many, Stewart called Tucker Carlson a "dick" or as some newspapers reported a [male pride] in response to Carlson's saying that Stewart wasn't as funny in person as he was on Comedy Central.

Stewart said what so many Americans were thinking but were in no position to say. No, I don't mean the "dick" comment. It took America's most prominent shtick journalist to tell pseudo journalists to stop using false advertising labels about what it is they were doing. "You are helping the corporations and the politicians," he said, with all the partisan hacks screaming at each other instead of monitoring political power and corporate corruption.

Stewart's name-calling to CNN's "Richie Rich" bowtie newsman Carlson was an instant Internet video sensation, not on YouTube (it came about in February 2005) but on iFilm. It made many of us who teach media classes stop and think about what journalism is and who is a journalist.

Stewart, a William and Mary graduate, is quick to plead that he's not a trained "serious news" journalist, but it really doesn't matter. He's more gifted at delivering the pulse of the political and entertainment culture than anyone else on TV today. That is a strong negative if you are politically conservative. He's a very transparent liberal with a crack writing team. Or did I mean crank?

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Comments

[Prodigal Daughter]

I am so amazed at how well-done this show is. It's got real reporting, people who actually go and cover events like Sarah Palin's farewell rally, and they expose things that are very illuminating (such as the ignorance of these Sarah Palin-ites) in a comedic way. Jon Stewart is a force to be reckoned with. People dismiss him as a puppy because they think he's just a comedian or a satirist, but look at how he totally owned Betty McCaughey, former Lt. Gov. of NY and the major proponent for the shutdown of the health care debate, with her ridiculous assertions of pulling the plug on the elderly and the doctors having their hands tied because of this bill. He's a really smart guy, and he's not afraid to call out BS when he smells it, even when it's the Obama Administration. It's amazing how you can find the most unbiased news on a comedy channel. Stewart is a game-changer in this new media and new world. More proof? See how he eviscerated Jim Cramer and CNBC. That's how you do real reporting.

[JailNeoconVicts]

I would argue with your statement that Stewart doesn't "hold pretenses about being anything but entertainment delivery systems for the news-savvy." Not pretenses--actual, serious reporting under the clown disguise. His eviscerations of Bill Kristol, Jim Cramer, Dick Cheney etc., using more thorough research into their lies and hypocrisies than any "real" news show until Maddow, are the closest thing we've got on TV to actual investigative reporting.

[PathofTotality]

"Unless the major cable and network news broadcasters did their jobs better, the American people would move away from CNN to shows like his that didn't hold pretenses about being anything but entertainment delivery systems for the news-savvy. "

VERY well stated.
Jon has found a way (along with his writers) to make the lunacy, idiocy and a lot of the times, poor news casting, somewhat bearable. I mean think about it. All Jon and his team have to do is watch other news casts, get pissed at the same things we do then add a few jokes. I quit watching regular news long, long ago and will say TDS is about the only "news" I watch now.

[n222s]

Jon Stewart dares to tell the truth and to evidence the truth with clips of real events and statements by people in power. Stewart's intelligence and critical thinking skills by far outdistance those who have lost or refuse to use their own thinking ability and who choose to be followers of a party line. More power to him.

[jeahere]

"I should be too old for "The Daily Show," but have gotten so discouraged by mainstream media news, most of which pander to the lowest form of "entertainment," that I find Stewart's comedy news show the most credible source of real news available."

I am 50 and female and for the last four years I was living in Switzerland and got only international CNN which featured Jon. He is the "Cronkite" of this time. Since I have returned to the US I have been appalled at what passes for "journalism". Only NPR and Jon for me.

[cole88]

I love The Daily Show and watch it every night. Jon Stewert is honest and does a service every time he comes on. I'm 21 and I take politics pretty seriously so it pains me when I turn to "news networks" and see how baised they are. Jon doesn't mince words and will call everyone on their crap. He does this with such humor and you always know that he's giving you an unbiased account.

[Nancy Snow - Huffpost Blogger]

This is a very interesting discussion about our news media consumption. The Daily Show is satire, not straight comedy, and one needs to be very up on the daily news to understand the daily show. Dvrsweet, I fixed the fake puppets remark. I agree with pigeonsailor that Stewart is "filling a void we would love to see filled by a real journalist." I like Lehrer, NPR (always). Are there any C-SPAN Washington Journal fans? One time when I couldn't sleep in southern California, I tuned in to the live broadcast of Washington Journal (4-7 am Pacific Time) and who called in at about 4:30 in the morning but Cher, who got everyone at the insomniac network all excited. T-shirts followed: "Cher loves C-SPAN. What about you?!"

[rf dude]

I am (proudly) OVER 50, and watch TDS almost daily.

And it is not a comedy show - it is crystal-pure satire, and Stewart (and Colbert) are both top masters of the craft.

Carlson and Begala didn't understand the difference between comedy and satire - and probably lost their show because of the negative blowback from the Stewart interview.

Crank Yankers - well, let's just say I'm WAY too old to be interested in watching that kind of comedy...
--

[krocklin]

I like Stewart. But why attack Begala? Begala is one of the best and smartest and most articulate people in the media.
Hardly on a par with Tucker Carlson.

[Hammerlock]

Lets be honest--Begala is a ruminating pundit that doesn't produce much heat. He's just not an obnoxious one in comparison to, say, a carlson, hannity, or o'reilly. He has some substance to him, but largely he's just there to churn the story, not add to it.

I don't believe there was an attack on Begala's intellect, but rather what he was doing: hackery. You can be a brilliant guy and still be a hack.

[Lisbeth35]

CNN had a gem in Aaron Brown. However, CNN chose to replace him with splashy Anderson Cooper with his hurricanes, big sound effects and "keeping them honest" jingle. CNN has no one to blame but themselves.

[superstition]

CNN also had this person:

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/truths-consequences-by-digby-since.html

[Jun58]

Right on that!

[InofTouch]

and then we live happly ever after

[BookDesigner]

I'm 64 years old, a Vietnam vet, and (as I've been called) a "bleeding-heart liberal."

I should be too old for "The Daily Show," but have gotten so discouraged by mainstream media news, most of which pander to the lowest form of "entertainment," that I find Stewart's comedy news show the most credible source of real news available.

[decrepittex]

I'm five years older and feel the same way. The networks shouldn't be allowed to call their
programs "news".

[rf dude]

A few years younger here, but still WAY past the age for regularly watching sophomoric comedy shows.

I listen to NPR to get the "real" stories, and then compare my take on the news with The Daily Show. More often than not, Jon Stewart says EXACTLY what is going through my mind.

I'm left wondering whether I should try to join his team as a writer - it's that close!

But naaawww - then it'd be work, and I would lose my only outlet for the absolute helpless frustration and desparation I feel at the " state of things as they are"...
--

[sempronia]

I suspect that what makes JS so "trustworthy" is his willingness to lampoon the liberals as well as the conservatives. I'm not saying that it happens as often, but it's good to know that Stewart and his team are willing to call out hypocrites regardless of which side of they aisle they sit on or to what ideology they subscribe. There's a cynical part of me that is waiting for the veneer to crack, and another part of me that wholeheartedly hopes it doesn't.

[MaryinAz]

Tim Russert would have been my choice if he were still alive. I also like Ted Koppel. Neither of them were afraid to ask the hard questions or call out those they interviewed on their lies and contradictions. Sadly, though, Tim is gone and Koppel has retired.

I DO trust Jon Stewart more than than anyone else reporting the news today. Yes, he's a satirist, but he's an honest one. He goes after the right, left and especially the media. I find it remarkable the way his staff can find video of politicians saying one thing, then compare it to what they're currently saying, showing them for the liars they are. Do "real" news organizations not have access to video vaults, or are they just too frightened to do their jobs the way they should?

[superstition]

"Tim Russert would have been my choice if he were still alive. I also like Ted Koppel. Neither of them were afraid to ask the hard questions or call out those they interviewed on their lies and contradictions. Sadly, though, Tim is gone and Koppel has retired."

I suggest you read Glenn Greenwald's blog concerning Russert. He has covered him quite a lot.