Robert Schlesinger

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

March 26, 2009 RSS Feed Print

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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Tags:
Stephen Colbert,
CNN,
Jon Stewart,
television,
media

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Since our plutocracy allowed media to be owned by a powerful few, since we allow blatant lies to be aired as news, why would we believe or give any credence to the corporate drivel that we are offered? Add Southpark to Colbert and Stewart, as a moral barometer.

grandma of OR 1:44PM October 01, 2011

Wow is this post an april fool's joke?

The reason people are watching comedy news shows is because they are the only ones asking the tough questions and are the ones who are willing to call a liar a liar, a hypocrit a hypocrit, and aren't afraid to offend people with the truth.

fddsa of NE 2:19AM April 02, 2009

I can't speak for anyone else. I consider myself somewhat well informed about international events and well read in current affairs. I spent nearly a decade abroad and speak languages other than English. There may be people siting on their couches and drooling over an empty bag of chips watching this "infotainment", but for myself, I love Colbert and Stewart because they lampoon the utter garbage that passes for journalism in this country. I couldn't be more delighted to see the demise of "the news" that really does nothing but shill for the moneyed interests. Time for alternatives. Are Colbert and Stewart the solution? No, but they at least help us laugh through the pathetic situation thinking people find themselves in.

QuidQuintessa of PA 9:15PM March 26, 2009

Robert Schlesinger

Robert Schlesinger

Robert Schlesinger is managing editor for opinion at U.S. News and World Report, overseeing all opinion editorial content. He is the author of White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters. E-mail him at rschlesinger@usnews.com. Follow him on Twitter: @rschles.

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