Daily Show doubly vindicated by IMDB news

O'Reilly proved wrong about its

http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2004-09-28
The two shorter stories in question followed by my analysis.

Comedy Central Unspins O'Reilly

Determined not to be caught up in a spin zone created by Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, Comedy Central on Monday refuted O'Reilly's assertion that the audience for the network's The Daily Show was composed of "stoned slackers." The channel extracted data from Nielsen Media Research to indicate that Daily Show host Jon Stewart's viewers are more likely to have completed college than O'Reilly's. O'Reilly made his remarks when Stewart appeared on his show a few weeks ago. "You know what's really frightening?" O'Reilly said. "You actually have an influence on this presidential election. That is scary, but it's true. You've got stoned slackers watching your dopey show every night and they can vote." O'Reilly is due to face the slackers directly when he appears on Stewart's show on Oct. 7.

'Daily Show' Viewers Among Best Informed Voters

Concerns that people who receive their political information from late-night comedy shows may not be adequately familiar with the issues in order to vote knowledgeably appeared to be laid to rest Monday by a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Election Survey. In a poll conducted between July 15 and Sept. 19, nearly 20,000 young adults were asked six questions about the presidential candidates' stands on various issues. Those who watched no late-night comedy shows answered 2.62 questions correctly. David Letterman's viewers answered 2.91; Jay Leno,'s 2.95; and Jon Stewart's (The Daily Show) 3.59. The results for Stewart appeared particularly striking to the pollsters, who noted that his viewers "have higher campaign knowledge than national news viewers and newspaper readers."

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Now, here's what I find interesting... O'Reilly was criticizing the Daily Show for being dopey, when Jon Stewart asks some of his guests damn hard questions... he has openly attacked some of his guests, like Stephen Hayes and Harry Bonilla, and Jon Stewart's take on Talking Points is the hallmark of well-researched satire. You generally don't learn things from dopey shows. I am willing to admit that it is silly at times, especially the correspondent pieces, but Jon Stewart and Lewis Black at the desk... well, you see some of the nitty gritty of American political life.... and sometimes you need a source that is not part of the establishment to shed light on the corruption in the system(and I am talking about network news as well as politics there).
7,861 views 15 replies
Reply #2 Top
I like the Daily Show, but to watch it for the news, which is shamefully liberal (and biases are bad and corrupt even when not part of the establishment, which it is, since the Daily Show is owned by Viacom) does require somebody to be a stone slacker.
Reply #3 Top
I like the Daily Show, but to watch it for the news, which is shamefully liberal


Most of the news shows are shamefully liberal, at least this one's liberal and funny as hell.
Reply #4 Top
Most of the news shows are shamefully liberal


*sigh* If only Dennis Miller could make conservative news funny.
Reply #5 Top
Conservatives can be funny....take Ann Coulter for example...
Link

She always brings a smile to my face....
Reply #6 Top
I think the daily show is great. Liberal news is funny people. You can't make fun of poor people. You CAN make fun of rich white men, and those are politicians. Hey, I'm liberal but I like the cracks made against everyone.
Reply #7 Top
The problem is people try and treat the Daily Show as a serious news program. It's not, they're not trying to be. They're a spoof of TV News, it just so happens that they cover actual news while making fun of it all. Saying The Daily Show is a news program is like saying the Rush Limbaugh show is a news program
Reply #8 Top
I think part of the reason that Daily Show viewers tested as more knowledgeable is because they must be in order to get his jokes. You don't "get the news" from the daily show . . . you must already have some level of knowledge about current events in order to understand the satire. Also, John Stewart is sexay. That is all.
Reply #9 Top
Saying The Daily Show is a news program is like saying the Rush Limbaugh show is a news program


Or Bill O'Reilly is a news show

You don't "get the news" from the daily show . . . you must already have some level of knowledge about current events in order to understand the satire.


When Rathergate was going on, I had wished the Daily Show had been new episodes that week, because that would have great watching that unfold under their emmy-winning staff's watchful eye.
Reply #10 Top
The problem with the daily show is that Stewart uses his brilliant humor to subtely advance his liberal views.

Texas Wahine nailed it, you have to know about current events to understand the show.
Reply #11 Top
How dare a comedian spread his liberalist agenda... and in an election year no less.... damn him, DAMN HIM! *clench fists*
Reply #12 Top
I haven't watched a lot of Daily Show, so I'm not totally sure on this, but from what I've seen, he takes no prisoners on either side of the spectrum. If he does have a political preference, he seems to keep it firmly tucked away from what he says on the show.
Reply #13 Top
If he does have a political preference, he seems to keep it firmly tucked away from what he says on the show.


. . . that might possibly be the most hilarious thing I've ever heard!
Reply #14 Top
Er, back to the topic (sorry, tangents are fun) ...I'm glad to read that. I watch the Daily Show and I feel vindicated to not be lumped into a group of "stoned slackers" watching a "dopey show." (We don't get cable, though, so I don't see it often enough--maybe I'd be more stoned then.)

I heard more of that interview and Stewart didn't defend his viewers very well--O'Reilly said he had some sort of source for this gross generalization and Stewart didn't push it, and (as I recall) the conversation veered towards making fun of Florida. I don't particularly blame Stewart for that--how the hell are you supposed to know exactly what topics will come up with someone like O'Reilly (or Stewart himself, or Rush) or others who enjoy broadsiding their guests just to see them squirm?

Hooray for Nielsen ratings. Maybe someday I'll actually do that journal when they call.

-A.
Reply #15 Top
Well, I have a feeling that Bill O'Reilly is going to take at least one tough question on the Daily Show now....