Compare and Contrast: The Daily Show vs Network Newscasts

Upchurch

Papa Funkosophy
Upchurch
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I was listening to October 13 episode of On The Media when Faker... and Harder (sound file, transcript not yet available) caught my attention.

There was some back and forth about whether or not the study was true, but the gist was that The Daily Show contained just as much substantive information as the networks' evening news. The difference is that while the Daily Show uses humor as filler*, the evening news uses "hype". (Although there was some argument as to whether or not that was the appropriate term.)


* I would argue that the Daily Show has substantive humor and the information is filler, but whatever.
 
I'm frankly amazed at how many people rely on The Daily Show for news and current events. I'm biased, of course, but I believe Jon Stewart uses humor to effectively cut through the hype the broadcast news often relies upon to make a story.
 
But the Daily Show is just sort of a "best of" compilation of recent news. It's not fair to compare them to network or cable news shows, because they don't really do any investigation or reporting themselves, they just repackage what other journalists have dug up.

That's not a criticism, mind you. I get most of my news from the net or in print, but I still watch the Daily Show every day. But they're not exactly playing the same game as the big boys.
 
No news source is comprehensive but assuming that the Daily Show is in fact news it is the least comprehensive of any source I know of. I have never considered the Daily Show "news" though I confess they do report news it just isn't in depth enough for me. I'm a bit of a news junkie. I have to visit CNN, BBC and Drudge every morning. I check those and other sources like LA Times and FOX throughout the day and by the time Evening News rolls around there's rarely anything they can tell me that I don't already know and have often read, at least in part, from two different perspectives.

After all of that when I watch the Daily Show I feel like I'm getting a Whitman's Sample of the news and it baffles me how anyone could honestly think that they were staying informed by watching it.
 
RandFan said:
No news source is comprehensive but assuming that the Daily Show is in fact news it is the least comprehensive of any source I know of.
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Just to reiterate, they were comparing the Daily Show to the major network's 30 minute evening news shows, not the 24 hour news channels.
 
RandFan said:
No news source is comprehensive but assuming that the Daily Show is in fact news it is the least comprehensive of any source I know of. I have never considered the Daily Show "news" though I confess they do report news it just isn't in depth enough for me. I'm a bit of a news junkie. I have to visit CNN, BBC and Drudge every morning. I check those and other sources like LA Times and FOX throughout the day and by the time Evening News rolls around there's rarely anything they can tell me that I don't already know and have often read, at least in part, from two different perspectives.

After all of that when I watch the Daily Show I feel like I'm getting a Whitman's Sample of the news and it baffles me how anyone could honestly think that they were staying informed by watching it.
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Er... you DO realize it's a COMEDY show and not really a news program, don't you?
 
Upchurch said:
Just to reiterate, they were comparing the Daily Show to the major network's 30 minute evening news shows, not the 24 hour news channels.
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Excuse me, was I talking to you? No. So please mind your own business. Please don't come onto my thread and derail it with your quaint notions of facts.
 
RandFan said:
No news source is comprehensive but assuming that the Daily Show is in fact news it is the least comprehensive of any source I know of. I have never considered the Daily Show "news" though I confess they do report news it just isn't in depth enough for me.
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I agree, and while I too am a news junkie (though I prefer it in print or on a website where I can read only the articles I want) I love The Daily Show, just as I loved Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live and, though I was barely able to understand it, That Was The Week That WasWP. But for any of these shows to be funny you have to have at least a passing knowledge of the real news.

Take the Daily Show, for example. It doesn't have real reporters. It uses footage from other newsprograms. The first thing it does in any "news item" is to show you a clip. However, I still salute TDS as one of the reasons that kids start paying attention to the real news. They don't want to miss the jokes.
 
I watch both the Daily Show as well as my local and network newscasts (no real favorite CBS, NBC, or ABC but totally Fox-free). The main difference I find is that when watching the Daily Show I sometimes guffaw loudly and while watching regular news I shout angry sarcastic comments at the TV. An example last night on regular news was that they had previously reported the Hawaiian quake at 6.3 was in fact 6.4 on the richter scale. "This is a larger quake" they explained ... D'uh

Charlie (Tourette's during newscasts) Mooxide
 
RandFan said:
After all of that when I watch the Daily Show I feel like I'm getting a Whitman's Sample of the news and it baffles me how anyone could honestly think that they were staying informed by watching it.
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Funny, I feel the same way about people who get their news from Drudge and Fox (I do not include you in this grouping).


Daredelvis
 
Tricky said:
Take the Daily Show, for example. It doesn't have real reporters.
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I dare you to be able to distinguish between TDS corrispondants and local news reporters.



Ignorning, y'know, the TDS tendancy towards nudity and the fact that that they realize they look foolish.
 
Tricky said:
I agree, and while I too am a news junkie (though I prefer it in print or on a website where I can read only the articles I want) I love The Daily Show, just as I loved Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live and, though I was barely able to understand it, That Was The Week That Was. But for any of these shows to be funny you have to have at least a passing knowledge of the real news.
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TW3.
You are old.
 
daredelvis said:
Funny, I feel the same way about people who get their news from Drudge and Fox (I do not include you in this grouping).


Daredelvis
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No problem though I think someone would get more data from FOX and Drudge than TDS. I just don't trust anyone source. I want different perspectives and even then I wonder if I'm getting the straight dope. It's a mixture of cynicism and skepticism due to experience.
 
Here's a tidbit:

Wednesday, September 29, 2004 Posted: 4:17 PM EDT (2017 GMT)

One turns on Jay Leno. One tunes into David Letterman. And the other watches Jon Stewart.

Who's better informed politically?

Viewers of all three shows know more about the background of presidential candidates and their positions on issues than people who don't watch late-night TV.

[snip]

On top of that, "Daily Show" viewers know more about election issues than people who regularly read newspapers or watch television news, according to the National Annenberg Election Survey.
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(emphasis mine)

Therefore:

September 21, 2004

National Annenberg Election Survey.

"In fact, Daily Show viewers have higher campaign knowledge than national news viewers and newspaper readers - even when education, party identification, following politics, watching cable news, receiving campaign information online, age, and gender are taken into consideration."
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(emphasis mine)

Still, I have to admit, the Daily Show has been moved into second place in my heart by the always-brilliant Colbert Report. :D
 
Upchurch is ignoring me. See if I ever respond on one of his threads again.
 
zenith-nadir said:
Here's a tidbit:

(emphasis mine)

Therefore:

(emphasis mine)

Still, I have to admit, the Daily Show has been moved into second place in my heart by the always-brilliant Colbert Report. :D
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Yesh, I must admit I like Colbert Report along with TDS. Though I miss Steve Colbert and Steve Corell on TDS. They were the best especially when they were debating. :D
 
toddjh said:
But the Daily Show is just sort of a "best of" compilation of recent news. It's not fair to compare them to network or cable news shows, because they don't really do any investigation or reporting themselves, they just repackage what other journalists have dug up.

That's not a criticism, mind you. I get most of my news from the net or in print, but I still watch the Daily Show every day. But they're not exactly playing the same game as the big boys.
Click to expand...

Hey they had one of the early national interviews with Jesse Ventura when he started running for govenor.

Hmm, who is the next member of the cast of the Predator to become a govenor?
 
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