Daily Show Viewers More Up-To-Date Than NPR, CNN, and Fox Viewers

[VijchtiDoodah]

http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/magazine/15-07/st_infoporn

Old, by internet standards (four days!), but still zooming along in its wheel chair.

The most shocking statistic is that us Americans are, sadly, very misinformed.  Cue the "Amerikans are dum" rhetoric.  I don't mind because, in all honesty, the entire world is one steaming pile of unsavory stupidity.  Saying Americans are dumb is a bit like saying bears are hungry...yes, but so is everyone else.

I blame Fox News.  And this isn't just a trendy attack on Fox -- they really are a terrible source of news due to their amazing ability to cover one, and only one, side of every event (but they do it spectacularly) as well as their tendency to skip important details, continually misrepresent the facts, and outright lie.  Couple that with the fact that it's one of the most watched news networks in the entire united states and you have a recipe for exactly what the graph shows.

Though, we're also just ignorant f*cks.

[Xxypher]

So... The Simpsons where right.

[Graham]

I actually heard this a long time ago, I think the reason why is because they give a brief understanding of the news just so they can totally rip on it. Rather then bore everyone with mundane details over and over again, all the while not really saying anything so they can stretch out one story over a 24 hour period, then again Jon Stewart is past his prime many times over(In fact the last time I remember laughing at him was when he got booed after he threw out a first pitch at some stadium). I don't know about you but I get tired of seeing the same 4 second video clip being played day in, day out on every single news station around.

[Xxypher]

LOL!
He literally threw a strike?
Awesome.
I would have cheered.

[VijchtiDoodah]

I think the reason why is because they give a brief understanding of the news just so they can totally rip on it. Rather then bore everyone with mundane details over and over again, all the while not really saying anything so they can stretch out one story over a 24 hour period...

Brief understanding?  Jon actually goes into quite a bit of depth on most stories (there was an article about a year ago comparing the time major news stations devoted to stories, The Daily Show beat all or nearly all of them by spending more time on each story than anyone else).

I think it's both the time spent on the stories and that Stewart and Colbert make stories interesting by, of course, making them funny.  The catch, though, is that the stories they present are often funny because of the contradictions people make, fallacies the governments tell, and the simple ridiculous nature of the world -- which often forces Jon and Steven to give more solid information through jokes than you would expect.

This is, perhaps, also the reason why most Fox News advocates don't like Comedy Central's news shows (besides the fact they they are often at the butt of Jon and Steven's jokes): because they don't present information in a serious manner.  Fox News does just the opposite, but to the extreme: everything is as painfully serious and fear-inducing as possible.  Thus, you have people who expect the news to show how serious they are by continually making you feel unsafe, but they can't take the Daily Show seriously because it doesn't do that (unless you're intelligent enough to get the jokes about the government, in which case you feel just as unsafe as anyone else, but you're justified for those having those feelings).

[Graham]

I think the reason why is because they give a brief understanding of the news just so they can totally rip on it. Rather then bore everyone with mundane details over and over again, all the while not really saying anything so they can stretch out one story over a 24 hour period...

Brief understanding?  Jon actually goes into quite a bit of depth on most stories (there was an article about a year ago comparing the time major news stations devoted to stories, The Daily Show beat all or nearly all of them by spending more time on each story than anyone else).

I think it's both the time spent on the stories and that Stewart and Colbert make stories interesting by, of course, making them funny.  The catch, though, is that the stories they present are often funny because of the contradictions people make, fallacies the governments tell, and the simple ridiculous nature of the world -- which often forces Jon and Steven to give more solid information through jokes than you would expect.

This is, perhaps, also the reason why most Fox News advocates don't like Comedy Central's news shows (besides the fact they they are often at the butt of Jon and Steven's jokes): because they don't present information in a serious manner.  Fox News does just the opposite, but to the extreme: everything is as painfully serious and fear-inducing as possible.  Thus, you have people who expect the news to show how serious they are by continually making you feel unsafe, but they can't take the Daily Show seriously because it doesn't do that (unless you're intelligent enough to get the jokes about the government, in which case you feel just as unsafe as anyone else, but you're justified for those having those feelings).

I am not saying Jon doesn't go into detail, just saying its brief. Basically as long as the story should be, not drawn out... which in my previous post I give  wag of the finger to(Yes I love the Colbert Report) Also I am not trying to credit any news channel or station with anything(Just to get that out), I have said many times before I quit watching the news on television. However as much as I try to escape it it seems every other channel I hit is a news station with the exact same news over and over, just a different face telling me. Anyway I think you and I are if not on the same page... in the same chapter on the news. It needs a swift kick in the tail. However... you have to admit Jon's stuff gets repetitive.... usually a video clip will play... me makes a dumb face and then whips out some sarcasm. Eh.. don't mean to take the focus off the link... just don't get to rant about that much....

[Blue-ninja]

Those are some pretty big-ass posts, and I, intimidated by them, can only offer one explanation in three words:

Ignorance is bliss.

[VijchtiDoodah]

However... you have to admit Jon's stuff gets repetitive.... usually a video clip will play... me makes a dumb face and then whips out some sarcasm.

Yeah.  Though, what more is there to do?  In terms of repetition, Jon was never original.  Craig Kilborn used the exact same kind of humor (though he never delivered it as well).  It's unfortunate, but there isn't any other way to present news in a funny way while keeping it informative.

I'm just glad that he still gives me a laugh.  I might be able to predict the sarcasm to the second, but the absurdity of every new and unique news story never gets old.

[Pred]

I was actually talking in the IRC channel about how Amrican news channels overreact.

Sky news: "It appears that a homemade bomb was found in a car in Haymarket in the early hours of this morning."

Fox news: "TERRORISTS IN BRITAIN. A DEADLY CAR BOMB WAS FOUND IN THE HEART OF CENTRAL LONDON TODAY, CHAOS ON THE STREETS THERE. THE CAR WAS PACKED WITH DEADLY EXPLOSIVES AND METAL. THE AMERICAN AND UK THREAT LEVELS HAVE BEEN RAISED."

I'm not giving the "Amerikans are dum" rhetoric, as you put it, but I receive American and British news channels, and it seems like the British channels give you the new facts in a calm manner, and also leave you to make your own assumptions. The American channels shout the facts and intterupt each other when new information comes in, and they tell you their assumptions. Such as that "It is probably Al-Queda." It probably was, but people watching might assume that it's a fact, which it isn't.

And another thing. American news channels look crap. Sky News has a cleaner look, and is widescreen, whilst Fox news is grainy and fullscreen, and they fit as much crap on the screen as possible. The layout is appauling. If someone finds a bomb in London, I don't care about shares. There are channels and websites that deal with shares. I don't want some huge flag in the top left corner, either. And I don't want gay 'Whoosh' sound effects when they change the screen.