Jul 24, 2009
Jon Stewart and the Future of “Journalism”
I'm not super concerned about Jon Stewart being considered the most trusted man in journalism. What concerns me is traditional media being so stupid that when they try to replicate his success (and you know they will) they only try to copy the humor. Remember Fox's attempt a couple years ago (Half Hour News Hour or something), not only did it fail because it wasn't funny, but it failed because it didn't do what Stewart does: Report on important stories and mock media that goes round and round talking about stupid stories.
The one problem I have with Stewart is his continued insistence that they are merely a comedy show; they are vehemently NOT news. Which allows them too much leeway, imo, and always feels a bit disingenuous to me.
They can be both, but I think they might need to embrace their role as a media watchdog/ news source and comedy show.