Phil. Inquirer: Young Adults Eschew Traditional Nightly News For "The Daily Show"

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/entertainment/20070513_Young_adults_eschew_traditional_nightly_news_for__quot_The_Daily_Show__quot_.html

Young adults eschew traditional nightly news for "The Daily Show."
They'll take Jon, and that's the way it is
By Gail Shister
Inquirer Staff Writer


JOHN COSTELLO / Inquirer Staff Photographer
Penn senior Jen Jablow, with Jon Stewart on her iPod , views watching network news as "something my parents do."

Before Katie Couric was signed last year, rumors surfaced that Comedy Central's Jon Stewart might be in the running to anchor CBS Evening News. The idea may not be as ludicrous as it sounds. If Stewart did anchor a Big 3 evening newscast, young adults might actually watch it.

Short of that, they will continue to ignore such traditional news sources in favor of mavericks like Stewart's The Daily Show, which proudly bills itself as "the most trusted name in fake news." So say media experts, scholars, numbers crunchers, and, most important, young adults themselves.

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Like many of her classmates, Jablow uses the Peabody-winning Daily Show (11 p.m. Monday through Thursday) as a springboard to pursue real stories on the Internet and on National Public Radio.

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The Daily Show "is geared toward people who can think more critically," says Eisenberger, 21, a communications major from Freeland, Pa. "If you watch Fox News at 10, you can find out what can kill you in your kitchen."

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news show on the Comedy Channel gives more information and it's more reliable than the 'legitimate' news programs.

How funny is that? Comedy at its best and most ironic.

The show is actually a real news show with comedic commentary coming from a more leftist perspective. You get real news when you watch the show. You just get it with truthful commentary wrapped up in brilliant humor.

If the show was truly "fake" news I'm not sure as many people would watch it.

Get your news from a variety of sources. Then watch TDS for a dose of reality with biting satire.

We've all seen the studies that show people who say that the Daily Show is their primary source of information for news and current events are among some of the most well informed of people watching news programs on television, while not surprisingly FOX news viewers rank about last.

I think its good that Stewart encourages people to get news from a variety of sources, and its likely that many DS viewers do just that. But still, it seems to be that TDS actually delivers more real news than even they think they do.

you to lazily catapult the radical republicon anti-American talking points.

We want real news. You are delivering only republicon propaganda.

Get with it, old media, or become extinct.

Try telling the truth -- without malice or prejudice. It is what you are supposed to do.

And that's not just because Stewart is damn funny, but because I got tired of hearing Bush administration talking points every time those zombie pantload talking heads like Katie Couric opened their mouths.

some of us old geezers too.

It looks good for a little while before it goes down in flames. Stunning that they can't put together 30 minutes--or something like 23 minutes with commercials--of decent news. No wonder no one watches.

That is the part they don't get. Were one of the majors to produce an honest news program it would take on a devoted viewership that would put the pep-talk-pundits out of business.

he would yell out 'dad..the daily show!' we would watch it together every night. we loved rob, ed, stephen, steve, matt, stewart, and all the gang. i tell people that's the real news.

but shoddy analysis. For example:

"With a network evening news format that's remained virtually unchanged - and unfunny - for 40 years, it's no surprise that young adults take a pass."

Actually, it has changed dramatically in 40 years which is why network news viewership is down among ALL demographics. Network news USED to be independent, with REAL journalists investigating and verifying REAL stories. Those stories may not have always been entertaining but they were pertinent to people's lives and what was going on around them. Today? The "news" comes directly from the WH and is seemingly never questioned, Katie Couric is now considered a journalist (heave!) and stories about Paris Hilton and Anna Nicole Smith are considered news.

The article also mentioned something about TDS not being the news their parents' watch. Um, don't look now but we've been watching longer than the young 'uns who have only relatively recently found the program.

OK, two nits picked today. My job here is done. B-)

The content has definitely changed.

the point but the format has changed. Entertainment news within a nightly news broadcast is a relatively new phenomena. The idiotic banter between talking heads is a format change, though this is one more applicable to local news. One last example would be the lack of depth for important stories. It's not that the old format didn't contain soundbites, in a 30-minute broadcast soundbites are necessary evil but, unless there's some tragedy like Virginia Tech, rarely is there more than 15-20 seconds spent on even the most far-reaching stories. Content is an element of and affects format.

OK, I'm done now. Really. :9