Stewart Delivers News to Younger Viewers

[CatWoman]

NEW YORK — Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Dan Rather ... and Jon Stewart? Readers over 30 might scoff at Stewart's inclusion — assuming they know who he is. For many under 30, the host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" is, improbably, an important news source.

A poll released earlier this year by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that 21 percent of people aged 18 to 29 cited "The Daily Show" and "Saturday Night Live" as a place where they regularly learned presidential campaign news.

By contrast, 23 percent of the young people mentioned ABC, CBS or NBC's nightly news broadcasts as a source.

Even more startling is the change from just four years ago. When the same question was asked in 2000, Pew found only 9 percent of young people pointing to the comedy shows and 39 percent to the network news shows.

The people at "The Daily Show" ridicule the idea of people looking to their show as a primary news source.

http://www.accessatlanta.com/hp/content/shared-gen/ap/TV/AP_on_TV_Stewarts_Stature.html

[GOPisEvil]

1. DU and The Daily Show! My sources of news! (Er, primarily)

I admit to scanning the online edition of the local fishwrap as well. For local news, I rely on our alternative weekly, the Austin Chronicle.

[madrchsod]

2. my daughter-18- and i watch john stewart

night,kind`a a daughter-father bonding thing...

[ArkDem]

3. I've always gotten all my political news from

comedy shows.

[felonious thunk]

4. This is troubling

I don't think this is a commentary on the Daily Show, but it is problematic that so many people get their news from entertainment shows. The Daily Show is an excellent entertainment show, but it's not news. Granted if one gets the news from television, there aren't any good options (PBS maybe), so comedy shows are as good as the fear-mongering news. But the point is that we have become that intellectually uncurious, uncaring about the world and so wrapped up in our own little worlds that we have no source for news. TV news is pretty much all entertainment.

I don't know what the answer is. It would be nice if more people read the newspaper, if there was an intelligent source of television news, but I don't think that's going to happen any time soon. The Daily Show people are right to ridicule the fact that they are a news source, but sadly, that is our country now.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

5. This particularly...

"I'm not really interested," said Michelle Cohen, a 20-year-old New Yorker. "A lot of those shows focus on topics that have absolutely nothing to do with me, like old people's health care."

My mother is on medicare and is on a limited budget. She has a neurological disorder and has been in misery for eight years. She had some thorough tests run and found out today that she is responsible for the $1,900. Not only that, medicare doesn't pay for routine physicals.
This is one woman, think about the millions of other seniors. We should be ashamed.
We should care. We all get older.

[lojasmo]

6. Check THIS

My father in law (60 years old) Just tried to explain how he's now older, his kids are out of school, and he doesn't really care if money goes to education. "especially with what they're teaching"

Idiocy is not reserved for the young.

[muffin_man]

7. regularly learned presidential campaign news!

Thats striking.I don't really know what to say. How could someone be so..so..so shallow? I mean they really consider it news? I love the Daily Show but can you imagine it being your MAIN source of info on an election of all things!?

[asthmaticeog]

8. My Mom...

...is 79. She LOVES The Daily Show. I gave her Jon Stewart's book and that bit about the Jewish kid visiting the Kennedy compound cracked her up (the "Martha Stewart's Vagina" piece, not so much - go figure). It ain't just kids, as the author of this article seems to want to imply. "...assuming they know who he is," indeed.