The Daily Show – a fake news phenomena

A disclaimer from the European version of the show:

Created by Minnesota native Liz Winstead and Madeline Smithberg. The Daily Show began in 1996 Created by Minnesota native Liz Winstead and Madeline Smithberg. (Another Minneapolis connection: The Daily Show theme music was composed by Mpls. native Bob Mould of Husker Du and Sugar) Winstead left in 1998 after then host Craig Kilborne made offensive remarks about her in Esquire magazine. Kilborne left in 1999 and was replaced by Jon Stewart. Since then its’ popularity, (and legitimacy!) have skyrocketed, in many minds due to the more active role taken by Stewart in the writing of the show.

Fake news is more real than “Real” news

1.5 million viewers, as of September 2005, with more 18-34 year old male viewers than Nightline, Meet the Press, Hannity and colmes, or any of the nightly network newscasts. The National Annenburg Election Survey found in 2004 that viewers of The Daily Show were better informed about the issues surrounding the election than most others, including those watching the broadcast news stations and reading newpapers. A study at Indiana University indicated that for the 2004 election, The Daily Show actually contained as much or more “substantive” news than the major network outlets. It also found that The Daily Show devoted more time per story on each issue than the network news broadcasts, (even without the satire!).