Daily Show Versus Network News

After our discussions in class, I found myself wondering why people opt to be entertained by people like Jon Stewart rather than finding out about the actual issues going on in society. I personally do not have a lot of extra time to watch television, and have never really watched the Daily Show (besides the clips we have watched in class). After having watched both the network news and the Daily Show yesterday, I am beginning to understand why people, especially people in my age group, prefer Jon Stewart's take on the news.

Since yesterday was the day after the 100 days mark for President Obama, a lot of attention was given to Obama's progress thus far in office. After watching the network news coverage of that and other issues (like the ever intensifying swine flu panic) it was actually very fun to watch Jon Stewart's interpretation of the recent events. While I did not feel The Daily Show gave me any substantive information, (other than a few really good jokes) I have to agree with our in class discussion and reading, that the network news did not provide much substance either. Given that I read the New York Times online in the morning on most days, I feel fairly informed as to the daily news. Watching the network news is usually not very informative and is very repetitive at that point. Jon Stewart takes the stories that the media is focusing on and points out the comical aspects of each one.

During last night's show, Jon Stewart remarked on the "Snoutbreak '09" and joked about the various requests for main stream media to stop referring to the outbreak as "swine flu". He addressed many other issues, in a very funny manner. I honestly found myself laughing through a good portion of the program. However my favorite segment was the following:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Obama 101
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis First 100 Days

In this segment, Jon Stewart makes a great point about the main stream media. He compares Fox, MSNBC and CNN and the different ways they presented the 100th day in office coverage. His observations were hysterical, yet somewhat unsettling due to their level of accuracy. I loved that he criticized all three networks and pointed out how absurd all three were. If there was anything educational about the show, I would say it would serve to help make people better consumers of main stream media, helping them to realize that everything has a slant to it.

I can understand why shows like Daily Show can be helpful in our society. Other people in my age group are usually not as interested in the news as say, the average Political Science nerd, and shows like this can help gain the attention of otherwise disinterested twenty-somethings. While I do not credit its educational value, The Daily Show is entertaining, and may just result in a viewer doing their own research on a topic they see presented there. In my opinion these types of programs are not harming society in any way, and just might result in some good.