Good stuff, overall. To understand it, one has to have interviewed Jon Stewart, or his producers (and I have for my text, Living Ethics Across Media Platforms), in the chapter on truth, of which satire is a part--that 2% of reality that everyone realizes but fails to acknowledge, presented in an unreliable voice enhanced by a title (as in Swift's "A Modest Proposal" http://www.uoregon.edu/~rbear/modest.html ). This story verifies what I know about Stewart and how he uses satire to mine unpopular truths. Tony Fox, executive vice president at Comedy Central, says this about Stewart in an interview for Living Ethics: "[V]irtually everything that Jon Stewart discusses is the truth. The report is real, and the Daily Show writers are ... More »

As a reporter who has been retired for a decade now, I worry about the state of my former profession. I've watched with growing concern as the new right wing media, like FOX, has bullied mainstream media into a false sense of what "balanced news" really is. It's not balance to repeat untruths or distortions simply in an effort to show your paper or channel is trying to be "fair and balanced." Instead the media's job should be to inform with facts and unmask the cheats, liars and propagandists on all sides.

Excellent story that should be required reading for everyone. Although we blame journalists--many of whom deserve blame--consider that they are under huge pressure from their executive suites to do everything they can to ensure another neocon victory. So why should they bother to check the accuracy of what has become the normal concocted negative fairy tale or idiotic outrageous questioning about trivial garbage no thinking person would even give a damn about? (Obama the Muslim or Obama’s forged birth certificate.) Welcome to the dumbing down of America.

I love the story, but had a hard time rating it. I agree absolutely with what Stewart said. But do I give Garofoli credit for repeating it? Still, he's done a good job of showing why so many people choose to listen to Stewart rather than "real" news.

This is an excellent commentary on the state of American journalism, but using "The Daily Show" and host, Jon Stewart, as an example of indepenence, valid critism, and insightful questions. What should concern the mainstream television media is that Daily Show viewers are rated [Pew Trust] among the best informed of citizens in our society. This reveals how "sound-bite television news" is terribly ineffective. The other news shows, that are top-rated as having well-informed viewers are "The News Hour With Jim Leher" and "Charlie Rose," neither of which uses a sound-bite format.

Mr. Garofoli basically throws out some choice, angry quotes from comedian (not journalist) Jon Stewart and provides no evidence on either side of the issue raised. The issue: The show-anything, irresponsible, 24-hour cable networks sets the nation's political agenda. Stewart claims the major news media should stop letting the non-news dominate, but doesn't stop himself; Obama inspires the young to get serious and seriously involved, while Stewart's mockery and satire encourages them to laugh at a safe, uninvolved distance. . Stewart makes his living off satirizing many of the non-news stories he criticizes others for airing seriously, but Stewart, who is a for many young the main source of their national and international news, ... More »

It's a try, once more, at a clue-by-four to the whoring media, especially the Springeresque cable shows. The real fake news is the 24-hour spin cycle. It may not be possible to do good journalism any more, but this article hits the rock bottom key to the situation: money in politics. How about some money for C-Span?