Now that Walter Cronkite passed, Time decided to ask Americans who their most trusted newsperson was. The results were overwhelmingly in favor of Jon Stewart.
It's a sad statement that the most trusted name in news is actually a comedian. I'm not sure if it speaks badly about Americans in general or about the state of our news media.
http://www.timepolls.com/hppolls/archive/poll_results_417.html Via Good Magazine
i think people find a guy who doesn't swallow any bullshit and is willing to practically spank all the other news outlets with comedy and honesty pretty damn refreshing.
i mean, look at the media focus on useless crap like michael jackson's death and "are nick and jessica going to get back together?!" instead of important things like health care reform and the war in iraq/afghanistan-most "news" today is boring and petty.
having long winded that all out- i totally love brain williams too.
i'd say that i trust stewart more than williams, because he is more free to speak his mind given the format of the show.
but that doesn't mean i think stewart provides the most accurate information on a consistent basis, just that he wears his bias on his sleeve.
the network anchors on this list are both less trustworthy [somewhat] *and* less biased than jon stewart. they are better newscasters.
cable news anchors - on the other hand - from msnbc, cnn and fox alike, are almost universally horrible. they are way less trustworthy than anyone on this list, and far more biased [in my opinion].
I get all my news from Weekend Update and The Onion
The networks don't understand why people trust Stewart though, and will make some dumb ratings-based suggestion that maybe if they add humor to their broadcasts, they will be considered more trustworthy (just like Jon)!
Of course, that's why network news fails. His cable comedy show does a better job of holding politicians feet to the fire than news organizations that supposedly have entire departments dedicated to doing actual reporting! People want someone to call "BS" on political figures who say one thing and then say the exact opposite a year later. Sure, Stewart makes some very inappropriate jokes, but there's actual news in there that you won't get from CNN or the other "trusted news sources".
Especially in light of the death of Walter Cronkite, I hope that TV news takes a hard look at themselves and thinks about what news was meant to be - a service for the PUBLIC GOOD - and not 20 minutes of filler between ads for Viagra, Prilosec, Detrol, and Ensure.
I think people need to understand the difference between viewpoint and trust. While not everyone shares my viewpoint on everything (Mr. Smiley, for instance), I trust numerous people when it comes to presenting me the whole story. I've never really thought that "just the facts" is possible when a human is conveying the info (any info, not just the news). So long as someone is honest with his viewpoint, and doesn't let it otherwise interfere with his work, I trust the guy (male pronouns chosen for simplicity). Sadly, NPR is the only reliable source of such people. Everyone else is either too simple or too slanted to earn my trust.
They are comedians about it because the sad truth is that the reality is all too tragic.
Think of Obama now, having to deal with 8 years that got us 1 TRILLION dollars in debt and the news is reporting about him possibly looking at a woman's ass? WHO... REALLY... CARES... ?
The news is FUBAR. Trust those with the balls to call it like it is.
- Zav
What about the countless conservative radio shows out there or newspapers? And I couldn't even begin to count the number of conservative blogs/news websites that can be found on the internet.
I really wish you guys would stop pretending like you have no where to turn for your "truth". The world is flooded with news outlets that cater to your taste/viewpoint.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I like Jon Stewert and think he is funny, but I have never seen him as a trusted news source. They often twist the news story quite a bit in order to make it seem more funny. I don't blame them, and I think it's hilarious, but it's important to know the full story beforehand or you may become misinformed.
I'll get my news from The Daily Show any day if it means that the alternative is 24 hours of hot air made to fill time, or the relentless reporting of every time a celebrity wipes their ass.
Remember that time Crossfire underestimated him? He laid the smackdown on them, and they got cancelled.
OLD/young. Ifeel that john stewart is my generations walter croncite not necesarily because hes a great journalist, but because with all the mess i can feel the world is in. Stewart informs me and in a genuine manner
now i would love to see that same poll but add glen becks name on the list or freakin hannity while your at it.
now that would be an interesting map
john stewart and colbert are hip, smart, and giving me news like everyone now a days is getting it.
short sweet and to the piont
i think certain" journalists" or "anchors" dont have a point or cant see one behind the spectacle
I would say a little of both. People have to be entertained nowadays and the news media doesn't do that well.
For one thing, for a survey to be valid, you've got to have a random sampling of the population whose opinions you're trying to gauge. For another, the story doesn't even tell you how the question was worded, which is critically important: Were they asked to pick their favorite of the four? Were they asked four individual yes-no questions, i.e., "Do you trust Katie Couric? Do you trust Charlie Gibson?" etc.? Were they only given these four choices, or were these the top vote-getters? This is about as scientific as a tarot reading.
The headline should read something like, "People who read Time Magazine on-line and are willing to spend their time filling out an on-line poll are more likely to say they trust Jon Stewart than to say they trust Brian Williams, Katie Couric, or Charlie Gibson." I guess that's a bit unwieldy for a headline, though.
I think that's part of the problem. I want to watch news that doesn't cater to anything but the facts. I consider myself moderately conservative and (attempting to) watch Fox News nearly brings me to violence. Stewart clearly isn't attempting to portray himself as fair and balanced, yet he still goes after both sides pretty regularly. He's also funny and willing to take risks that piss people off.
I put my trust in NPR and the BBC. They may be slightly biased, but their primary goal is to provide the news, not eyeballs to advertisers. They're also willing to cover world events, not American Idol recaps.
That being sad, I enjoy Stewart's show and I'm a big fan. I just don't take it too seriously. I turn to BBC for real news.
So you're obviously unaware of the 1 TRILLION additional dollars in national debt that we've acquired in only the past 6 months of the current administration?!? Dude, take off your blinders...
I agree, there's no such thing as a non-biased news source anymore. It depends on who they concider their target audiance, and who is writting their paychecks. I do feel that the best way to get news from a particular part of the world is to look at external sources, which have nothing to loose or gain when refering to it.
@brianch
Yeah... Whats up with that?
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/16/daily-show-fox-knowledge/
Just another shock jock, different schtick
Jon is the only person on TV openly admitting to me that he is about entertainment instead of real news, yet despite this he manages to deliver quite a bit more real news than most other news shows I've seen.
It's not that he's spectacular, it's that the rest of the News Industry has done the same thing as he has, only they won't admit it. They still have this charade that they are delivering real news, when in reality they're delivering commercials and random soundbites without any attempt to portray what is being reported in any real context.
Now that's just everyone as a whole, but now let's ask who's in the news I can really trust? 1. Most of the recognizable names in news aren't really journalists they're just TV/Radio Shock Jocks. 2. Once you take away the one sided Shock Jocks, there aren't very many names left, and all of them I can think of have failed majorly in the "Trust" department at one time or another.
So, unfortunately, I really think that what was once a joke about the News Industry has actually shown how much of a joke the News Industry and the people in it really are.
He shouldn't be the most trustworthy name in News, because at least he's still playing the Trust Worthy news man, and no one else is even doing that much.
The reason John Stewart won is he deserves it, largely because - despite the admitted left-leaning of the show - TDS calls politicians, and other major figures from the news networks when they contradict themselves or blatantly lie. If a comedy show can do that, you'd think a real news outlet could, too - but they don't and won't.
As a side note, while being viewed as a "left" show I can honestly say if you give them a shot, they are an equal opportunity critic. Many times they've landed on the Democrats, Obama and "left" news networks for melodrama and bull; the main reason is - weather anyone reading this likes to hear it or not - that they attack the right more is GOP and right-leaning programs tend to contradict themselves, lie and ignore proven facts far, far more than anyone else. Thus they open themselves to more attacks; it's not that both sides are perfect but the "right" seems way, way more brazen about it, willing to completely change their story interview to interview. Nothing more than that.
The international poll also voted in favor of Stewart.
And I am sure that if a larger scale poll was to be made, the results would be the same.
Why?
Most networks are just trying to entertain, instead of deliver news.
And networks like Fox are too busy with their sensationalist propaganda trying to bash on the current majority and everything they do, even the things Obama does right they manage to find a negative angle.
It's not news anymore, it's marketing.
Sadly, the only show that seems to be delivering actual news is The Daily Show. Even with the humour twist it's more newsworthy than anything else out there.
Shocking, but true.
Well that isn't true. Stewart believes 9/11 was a done purely by Arabs... when those of us who don't swallow BS know that factions of US government possibly along with Mossad did the job.