Are young potential voters a lost cause?
I think not, for there is a largely unexplored and increasingly popular source out there that informs its audience from a new angle, informing them while treating them with sophisticated humor. This new breed of “edutainment,” unlike the old such as “School House Rock,” is geared towards adolescents and doesn’t belittle its audience. The source getting all this new attention is the cable network Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with John Stewart.”
“The Daily Show with John Stewart,” an intelligent news/humor hybrid airs Monday through Thursday nights at 11p.m. On the show, host John Stewart and his “correspondents” take a humorous look at each day’s world news headlines, and because of this the show is dubbed “fake news.”
Calling the Daily Show “fake news” is deceiving. “Fake” indicates that the issues Stewart and his correspondents poke fun at are false. This is not the case, as “Daily Show” writers are in front of their TVs just like the rest of us, scouring networks for factual data to use in the show. What sets “The Daily Show” apart from “legitimate” news sources is that they are allowed to present the information in an entertaining way by mocking the parties involved in any scandals or foul-ups.
Some might call this biased, as this approach ignores the rules of “professional” journalism, but in my religious viewing of the Daily Show I’ve seen Stewart poke equal fun at both political parties. If Bush’s people or Kerry’s people do something silly, Stewart will flaunt it. This approach may not be “legit,” but it doesn’t change that what’s being addressed is based on facts.
“The Daily Show” has been “flirting with legitimacy” for some time now. It is critically acclaimed and recently won two Emmy’s, one for writing and one for best comedy/variety series (marking the first time in six years that award hasn’t gone to Letterman). This legitimacy has come to be recognized because of the caliber of guests appearing on the show over the past nine months.
Stewart interviewed presidential candidate Howard Dean, important political figures Al Gore and John McCain and even prominent media icons Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings. Some of these guest appearances were strikingly timely, such as Richard Clarke’s appearance just days after testifying before the 9/11 committee. Also, six of the Democratic presidential candidates (Dean, Clark, Kucinich, Lieberman, Braun and Gephardt) appeared on the show early in their campaigns. There seems to be a message coming across quite clearly: “The Daily Show” has become a significant political power.
“The Daily Show” has done an admirable job of bringing itself up to a highly respected position. Modern politics is not a pleasant or entertaining thing to hear about, but thanks to Stewart and his correspondents it need not be so dreadful a thing to keep in time with any longer. In time, perhaps young voter turnout will reflect this.
Dan Goldstein can be contacted at [email protected]