Premiering on Comedy Central in 1996 hosted by Craig Kilborne and now hosted by Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, has become a powerful voice in the world of politics, especially among the youth of the United States. Known for its satire of politics and news media, The Daily Show bills itself as the "best fake news show on cable," but has drawn the ire of certain journalists (Ted Koppel among them) who fear The Daily Show's audience actually uses the show as a news source.
The Colbert Report is a popular spin-off of The Daily Show, hosted by former Daily Show Correspondant Stephen Colbert.
Opponents of The Daily Show[]
Jon Stewart and The Daily Show have drawn in an audience that already holds cynical views of politics and news media and reinforces these ideas through its satire. While Stewart might genuinely feel this way, his viewpoints were molded through actual news, not through "fake news," which pushes the uninformed into believing idiots run Washington and the news media. If it is indeed true that the majority of today's youth use The Daily Show as their primary news source, we will soon be facing a wave of apathy fueled by cynacism in our politic processes.
Proponents of The Daily Show[]
While The Daily Show is not an ideal primary news source, it is better than no news source at all. The Daily Show has effectively captured an audience who otherwise would be content to stay uninformed. News sources that claim The Daily Show is warping young minds should re-evaluate their own programming to see why American youth opt out. With twenty-four hour news networks that spend inordinate amounts of time covering such things as the Michael Jackson trial and approach the War on Terror in an almost comically alarmist tone, the news media seems to be inviting the cynacism that are criticizing today. The Daily Show is not only entertaining, it keeps the real journalists honest.
Daily Show Rocks[]
The truth is easy to swallow when wrapped in humor. The Daily Show rocks and usually gives a side of news closer to the truth than most news networks.
Also, what who the hell wrote this stuff... It's pretty bad.