Jon Stewart "most trusted"

[Munch]

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

Yes, it's an online poll, which may or may not make it meaningless. But I'll follow it up with another online poll... as in one right here (wait for it). What do you think of Jon Stewart?

 

[Mise]

Isn't he, like, a comedian?

 

[Yoda Power]

He's a comedic newsperson, even if he claims he's not a newsperson. I wouldn't actually donate him my organs though.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Voted "he's great" while I actually mean: "he's ok". But "I like him, shame about his views" suits me less. I don't think he is that funny, but I do like the way he approaches the news. His job as a mirror to the massmedianewsextravaganzashows in the US is very valuable. Displaying the hypocrisy in politics is good as well. Often he shows clips of statements made now and a year ago which are complete opposites. But although is like shooting fish in a barrel when you have 3 channels doing news 24/7 and a 2 party system intent to use every trick in the book, so there's always lots of material.

 

[Munch]

I don't think he is that funny, but I do like the way he approaches the news. His job as a mirror to the massmedianewsextravaganzashows in the US is very valuable. Displaying the hypocrisy in politics is good as well. Often he shows clips of statements made now and a year ago which are complete opposites. But although is like shooting fish in a barrel when you have 3 channels doing news 24/7 and a 2 party system intent to use every trick in the book, so there's always lots of material.

This is pretty much my opinion too. It might be 'easy' to demonstrate hypocrisy, and to make public personalities look stupid by showing how they contradict themselves, but it is still a very valuable thing to be doing, even if some of his jokes aren't funny. Along these lines his appearance on 'Crossfire' was brilliant.

Also what little I know about him makes him seem like a great guy: instrumental in unionising the writers for their recent strike for instance. Additionally it's great that you can watch all the Daily Show clips from the UK for free on their website, without adverts, which moves him up in my estimation (not saying that it is necessarily his decision to offer the show for free, but he isn't speaking out against it like say, Metallica have spoken out against free downloads).

 

[Gooblah]

I think he's funny.

I also think the service he provides - giving Americans a mirror to show them their own hypocrisy and that of the media and politicians we seem to trust to much - is very useful. He's also a pretty good interviewer, which is nice (when he's being serious, of course).

 

[Phlegmak]

Stewart is great. His show does real news in a humorous way. I wouldn't actually donate him one of my organs though.

 

[Cutlass]

He's one of the best going in a number of ways. Particularly he does research and does not pull punches on sensitive subjects that the rest of the news often glosses over.

 

[Mise]

His show is "real news"? I honestly thought he was a comedian

 

[Phlegmak]

His show is "real news"? I honestly thought he was a comedian

Of course he is. He calls his own show "fake news". A lot of people on this forum call it that. Personally, I don't think that's accurate. He talks about real events and real news on his show, but done in a humorous way.

 

[Mark1031]

The show is hilarious sometimes but really he is the only news person out there. Meet the Press, which is the serious “hard hitting” real news show sounds tough but it is in fact an act because they never listen to what the guest says and let them spew whatever BS they want unchallenged. They were caught soliciting Mark Sanford for the show by basically saying this. Real TV “news” is the joke.

 

[Mise]

Hmm well I certainly think that humour can highlight hypocrisy and idiocy from politicians pretty well, but tbh, I wouldn't call it a news programme. We have a lot of political comedies and topical news comedy quizzes in the UK, and I enjoy Jon Stewart about as much as I enjoy those other comedies, but I wouldn't trust them to report the actual news, you know?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Guys, the term you are looking for is "political satirist." I find Stewart mildly amusing, but he is nowhere close to the league of those we have in Canada, such as Rick Mercer and the late John Morgan.

 

[amadeus]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selection_bias

 

[classical_hero]

I just don't understand the hype with him is.

 

[illram]

He's great and I'd rather see him interview someone important than just about anyone else. He is not afraid to challenge someone in an interview and he does get into serious debates with some of his guests on a level you never see on the "real" news channels.

Also the clips they manage to get and the bits they manage to do with them usually manage to be informative and hysterical at the same time. The clip they did comparing criticism of the Democratic VP candidate governor from Virginia (I think that's who he was) to the praise of Sarah Palin was a classic, for instance. And some of the ancient clips they manage to dig up to show some other blatant contradiction or hypocrisy are also pretty impressive. Or just some embarrassing idiotic comment, which happens pretty much every day on "Fox and Friends" or every time Geraldo gets in front of a microphone.

Really our politics and the way news covered is such a show and a joke that one of the most effective ways to cover it and convey how completely screwed up everything is is via satire.

 

[QuoVadisNation]

One of the Supreme Court justices said it best.. Stewart is funny but his humor can also be childish. More often Stewart misinterprets facts and statements so that only his audience would consider it witty or funny because they don't know any better about the particular subject.. That's what really makes Stewart seem unjustifiably snug a whole bunch. And even trustworthy for others. But outside that? He's still watchable, and he does think when he isn't required to make stupid jokes. But I like Colbert better. He has no pretensions about anything - just straight comedy with surprise answers.

 

[mech654]

I found it sad that a comedic newsperson is more trustworthy than the actually news shows.

Anyways I found him to be funny.

 

[emzie]

Hmm well I certainly think that humour can highlight hypocrisy and idiocy from politicians pretty well, but tbh, I wouldn't call it a news programme. We have a lot of political comedies and topical news comedy quizzes in the UK, and I enjoy Jon Stewart about as much as I enjoy those other comedies, but I wouldn't trust them to report the actual news, you know?

Did you not catch the whole Stewart v Kramer flap?

Daily Show is mostly showing hypocrisy in the media and politicians (though I think he focuses on one party more than the other >.>), but occasionally seaways into legitimate editorials.

 

[Aramazd]

Funny guy, I wouldn't really call his show news though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selection_bias

This. Self-selection means that it's biased. Not to mention it's limited to people who go to the Time website and not the US at large.