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Is Jon Stewart a Journalist? - Swampland - TIME

time-blog.com — No, you say? Then why, in a survey last year, was he ranked one of the most admired journalists in America? (I know, I know -- many of you think "admired journalist" is a contradiction in terms). A lot of Americans get their news, or a portion of it, from Stewart and Colbert (and Leno, Letterman and O'Brien). But how does The Daily Show rate as a n

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  • eir574, on 05/09/2008, -2/+8From the article linked to from this blog post (http://journalism.org/node/10953):

    "Republicans in 2007 tended to bear the brunt of ridicule from Stewart and his crew. From July 1 through November 1, Stewart’s humor targeted Republicans more than three times as often as Democrats. The Bush Administration alone was the focus of almost a quarter (22%) of the segments in this time period."

    You think? Who was in power during that time? I'm not saying that Jon Stewart doesn't lean to the left, but I have an odd feeling that his show wouldn't wither up and die during a democratic administration.
    • Squidwalk, on 05/10/2008, -0/+3The Daily Show has been on for 12 years now. Jon (and before him, Craig) took a lot of shots at Clinton too.

      I'd still call him a journalist. Sure, he reports on things a day or two after other news sources do, and he spins them, but isn't that how digg works too?
  • Qong, on 05/09/2008, -0/+7He may be a journalist, but his show is definitely not journalism. It's clearly a comedy show and should be viewed as such; same with Colbert's show.
    eir574's comment above also makes a very good point: While those two are undoubtedly aligned with the left, they are both still comedians and would be more than happy to make fun of any administration or person in political office. I don't know for sure as I don't watch the show, but I would assume that they made plenty of fun of Eliot Spitzer during his scandal; and I'm sure that they would make fun of anyone else that was in power, as long as it continued giving them ratings that is.
    • eir574, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2"I would assume that they made plenty of fun of Eliot Spitzer during his scandal"

      They were on break when that happened, but they certainly did get some mileage out of it when they came back the next week. While sometimes Stewart's show can be crass (I don't watch Colbert), he rarely pokes fun at something merely for the sake of poking fun (okay, it happens from time to time). There's usually a satirical point to be made. I think some conservatives who don't watch the show would be surprised to learn that they also did a segment on the issue with the military recruiters in Berkeley (when the city council came out in support of protesters who didn't want the recruiters in town). The show quite cleverly pointed out the idiocy and hypocrisy of that situation.
  • CaptainAmerica1, on 05/10/2008, -0/+3Jon Stewart is a current event-driven opinion comedian.

    The fact that the survey even mentions the word "journalist" indicates those surveyed have got to be brain-dead, weed-addled, and have no cognitive thought processes capable of logic or critical thinking skills.
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