Looking at The Daily Show host’s stance on journalism
In 1999, Jon Stewart took over hosting The Daily Show from Craig Kilborn. Over the course of the next 15 years, Stewart’s presence on The Daily Show took the show into a spectacularly political format, highlighting the absurdities of American politics, while allowing the bewildered public an opportunity to watch as straight-man Jon Stewart asked American news media and politicians the hard-hitting questions that are on all of our minds. Mocking print, radio, and broadcast journalism in a “fake news” format, The Daily Show is the rare kind of comedy show that is both uniquely funny and genuinely inquisitive.
“I’ve always run by the hierarchy of ‘If not funny, interesting. If not interesting, hot. If not hot, bizarre. If not bizarre, break something,’” said Stewart in a 1995 Rolling Stone interview.
However, Jon Stewart has always been adamant about his position as a comedian instead of a journalist or political pundit. Indeed, in interviews with news media and popular press, Stewart frequently restates his position as a satirist instead of a genuine journalistic personality.
…rare kind of comedy show is both uniquely funny and genuinely inquisitive.
“People would like to place a standard on our show that doesn’t exist. We’re not set up for reporting; we don’t have an apparatus for that,” said Stewart in a 2008 interview with The Hartford Advocate.
“We’re discussing things that hopefully people might get something out of, but it’s wildly inconsistent. Just because we hit on points that resonate, or people think are real complaints – that doesn’t make us journalists.”
In the same way that The Onion is not a legitimate news source, Jon Stewart is convinced that he is not a legitimate journalist. There is truth in his beliefs. Journalism is meant to bring clarity and context to the events that happen in our world. Based on this simple creed, names like Mansbridge, Murrow, Cronkite, and Williams have spent the last number of years doing the simple job of delivering the news in a context that can be understood by the people.
Jon Stewart, in comparison, is no Walter Cronkite; he makes jokes at the behest of foolish politicians, he pokes fun at meaningless policy, and he makes a job out of shaming people whose sole job it is to run our countries. On a daily basis, his show brings to light the issues that plague America and our world; his humorous style of reporting manages to make the news interesting, while simultaneously crying out for order and decency.
In short, Jon Stewart is not a journalist – he’s an entertainer, and he seems convinced that the only reason he’s still around is because people seem to agree with him a lot. With his movie coming out, Jon Stewart is convinced, now more than ever, that his work falls under entertainment and not education, and that we should not look to him as a source of enlightenment but of enjoyment.
That being said, I’m not quite so sure about Stewart’s position outside the media elite. Furthermore, I’m not quite so sure that the only reason Jon Stewart’s still around is because people agree with him a lot. There’s truth in the argument that following popular opinion is not always the appropriate choice, but there’s also truth that sustained popularity is not a statistical anomaly. After 15 years on-air, and years of asking important moral and political questions, do we still have to pretend that political comedians like Stewart, and Colbert, and Wilmore, and Oliver are not valid sources of criticism?
Comedy is one of those rare mediums where it’s completely appropriate to say what’s on a person’s mind. In comedy, jokes are allowed to cross a line, and comedians are allowed to challenge our preconceived notions of right and wrong. Journalism is supposed to do those things too; journalists are supposed to ask the questions that make people think, and they’re supposed to take a stand against good and bad. A journalist who blindly reports the news without putting things into context is of no use to the general public, while a journalist who blindly spews opinion without reporting the news is even more deadly.
Jon Stewart might not work for a news organization, his show might not reflect the traditional broadcast news format, and his medium might rely on comedy instead of news, but that certainly doesn’t mean that his work is any less meaningful. The fool is allowed a rare position in society; he is allowed to joke while simultaneously bringing fact to light. In today’s age, doing the news well means having to play the fool.
Mr. Stewart, you may think yourself the fool, and you may think yourself a jester, but let me be the first to say that you are the closest thing to an honest newsman that America has seen in a very long time.