Satirical news programs provide valuable service

October 9, 2006 —

Comedy Central's Emmy award-winning program "The Daily Show" recently celebrated its tenth year on television providing satirical evening news to an ever-growing population of viewers. Originally intended to take on an almost pure comedic purpose, "The Daily Show" has broken through those limitations and transgressed into one of the sharpest political commentaries on television.

The man behind the show's political ingenious is host Jon Stewart, who has garnered a mix of praise and criticism during his seven-year tenure behind the desk. While he has taken some jabs over the years for what some call liberal bias, his candor has not fallen on deaf ears, as the show is immensely popular amongst the college demographic.

Several studies have examined the value of "The Daily Show," producing results that seem to validate what most have realized for some time: people are tuning in. One study indicated that 20 percent of young voters get their news from satirical news programs like "The Daily Show" and its spin-off "The Colbert Report," while another from Indiana University showed that the amount of substantive news "The Daily Show" provides is comparable to the amount provided during many network news broadcasts. While that could certainly speak negatively to the information provided during regular news broadcasts, it also speaks volumes to what "The Daily Show" is accomplishing.

Of course the problem with this is that people tend to see such studies as a sign of degradation-embarrassment that today's youth has stooped to getting its news from a show on Comedy Central. Though that point certainly carries weight, the bigger focus should be on the fact that the youth is getting its news at all, something that should be seen as a silver lining considering today's ever-apathetic youth.

Adding to this is that Stewart himself is in an almost no-lose situation as he and his show seem to be able to float back and forth between satire and legitimate news at will. As a guest on CNN's "Crossfire" in 2004, Stewart exchanged words with host Tucker Carlson calling the host a "partisan hack." Carlson countered by suggesting that Stewart is too liberal and not hard enough in his interviews, which Stewart answered by pointing out that he is the host of a comedy show. Truly, Stewart is in an envious and advantageous position, providing news and growing more reputable while still being able to fall back on the show's satirical nature when questioned.

Despite this, Stewart and "The Daily Show" still perform a rather valuable service by helping bridge the gap between entertainment and news. And while it is still up to the educated viewer to differentiate between the two when the lines get blurred, the fact that people are paying attention to the news in the first place because of the influence of "The Daily Show" and shows like it should not be ignored.