Several years ago when The Daily Show With Jon Stewart exploded in popularity, I remember commentators bemoaning the fact that now young people were getting their news from Comedy Central rather than 'serious' news programs. I always dismissed such concerns because as someone who reads many newspapers and news websites every day, I found Stewart's fake news program (as well as its spinoff The Colbert Report) far more informative than the real TV news shows.
Essentially, Stewart and Colbert address issues that the TV news journalists ignore because the mainstream media's insatiable quest for access made them timid in questioning establishment arguments. Or they address them in ways that mainstream media outlets do not. I don't know how many times Stewart or Colbert have something that made me say to myself, "Why didn't CNN every mention that?"
Well it looks like my impression was right. According to a study by the Pew Research Center, the most well-informed Americans were those who watched The Daily Show and Colbert Report... more informed than not only viewers of Fox News [sic] but of the vanuted PBS NewsHour as well.
Pew judged the levels of knowledgeability (correct answers) among those surveyed and found that those who scored the highest were regular watchers of Comedy Central's The Daily Show and Colbert Report. They tied with regular readers of major newspapers in the top spot -- with 54% of them getting 2 out of 3 questions correct. Watchers of the Lehrer News Hour on PBS followed just behind. Virtually bringing up the rear were regular watchers of Fox News. Only 1 in 3 could answer 2 out of 3 questions correctly. Fox topped only network morning show viewers.
1 comment:
I don't watch TV, if I did I would watch Colbert.
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