Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, The Onion ... and the Decline of Mainstream Media

By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Herewith two data points helping to chart the disappearance of the line between serious journalism and entertainment.

Rasmussen reported this week that nearly one-third (32 percent) of Americans between the ages of 30 and 39 say that satirical "news" shows on television (most notably, of course, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report) are taking the place of traditional news outlets. Among all Americans, almost a quarter (24 percent) agreed. Hey, I love those shows and watch them regularly. But are we really reaching a point where we can't be bother to consume straight news? We need the sugar of Jon Stewart's wit to make it go down? Really?

In related news, former CNN anchor Bobbie Battista recently scolded CNN for cutting back its international coverage, and admonished aspiring journalists to "practice journalism, not blogging." She might have a bit more credibility on these issues ... if she wasn't now the anchor for The Onion News Network. Yes, as in The Onion.

Well at least her reporting about the Franz Kafka airport (see below) is informative entertaining. Like I said yesterday ... we're all doomed.

Prague's Franz Kafka International Named World's Most Alienating Airport

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