This is from the January 24, 2005 program of Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
It's pretty cool. Colbert discusses his ideology and protocol for comedy. Specifically, what he considers fair comedy, and what kinds of comedy aren't allowed. He has rules. Neat interview. Check it out.
Stephen Colbert On Fresh Air - Part 1 of 2 (MP3 - 26 MB)
Stephen Colbert On Fresh Air - Part 2 of 2 (MP3 - 22 MB)
This may be old news to a lot of you, but...
'Daily Show' viewers ace political quiz
Survey reveals late-night TV viewers better informed
By Bryan Long for CNN.
..."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.Dannagal Goldthwaite Young, a senior research analyst at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, said "Daily Show" viewers came out on top "even when education, party identification, following politics, watching cable news, receiving campaign information online, age and gender are taken into consideration."
The quiz was given to 19,013 adults between July 15 and September 19...
Leno and Letterman viewers scored 49 percent on the quiz. But "Daily Show" viewers scored 60 percent on average.
Scores were even lower for those who read a newspaper or watch network news four days a week.
Comedy Central was waiting for news like this. On September 17, Stewart appeared on Bill O'Reilly's "The O'Reilly Factor" only to be told his viewers are "stoned slackers" and "dopey kids."
"You know what's really frightening?" O'Reilly asked Stewart. " You actually have an influence on this presidential election. That is scary, but it's true."
Comedy Central used its viewers' test scores Tuesday to strike back at Fox News Channel and O'Reilly's viewers.
It also trotted out stats from Nielsen Media Research to show that Stewart's viewers are not only smart, but more educated than O'Reilly's.
"Daily Show" viewers are 78 percent more likely than the average adult to have four or more years of college education, while O'Reilly's audience is only 24 percent more likely to have that much schooling.
Plus, the network noted, "Daily Show" viewers are 26 percent more likely to have a household income more than $100,000, while O'Reilly's audience is only 11 percent more likely to make that much money.
So the guy watching Stewart may not only be smart, but may also be rich.
Here is the full text of the article in case the link goes bad:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/28/comedy.politics/index.html
'Daily Show' viewers ace political quiz
Survey reveals late-night TV viewers better informed
By Bryan Long
CNN
Wednesday, September 29, 2004 Posted: 4:17 PM EDT (2017 GMT)
Viewers of Stewart, Letterman and Leno scored better on a quiz of political knowledge than people who do not watch late-night comedy.
(CNN) -- So, three guys are watching TV.
One turns on Jay Leno. One tunes into David Letterman. And the other watches Jon Stewart.
Who's better informed politically?
In a recent survey, viewers of Stewart's "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central tested better than Letterman and Leno viewers on a six-question politics quiz. (How do you stack up? Take the quiz and compare your score.)
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.
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. (Pop quiz)
Dannagal Goldthwaite Young, a senior research analyst at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, said "Daily Show" viewers came out on top "even when education, party identification, following politics, watching cable news, receiving campaign information online, age and gender are taken into consideration."
The quiz was given to 19,013 adults between July 15 and September 19.
The quiz included these questions:
"Who favors allowing workers to invest some of their Social Security contributions in the stock market?" Answer: Bush.
"Who urges Congress to extend the federal law banning assault weapons?" Answer: Kerry.
While viewers of NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS's "The Late Show" scored better than the general public, Stewart's fans came out on top.
Leno and Letterman viewers scored 49 percent on the quiz. But "Daily Show" viewers scored 60 percent on average.
Scores were even lower for those who read a newspaper or watch network news four days a week.
Comedy Central was waiting for news like this. On September 17, Stewart appeared on Bill O'Reilly's "The O'Reilly Factor" only to be told his viewers are "stoned slackers" and "dopey kids."
"You know what's really frightening?" O'Reilly asked Stewart. " You actually have an influence on this presidential election. That is scary, but it's true."
Comedy Central used its viewers' test scores Tuesday to strike back at Fox News Channel and O'Reilly's viewers.
It also trotted out stats from Nielsen Media Research to show that Stewart's viewers are not only smart, but more educated than O'Reilly's.
"Daily Show" viewers are 78 percent more likely than the average adult to have four or more years of college education, while O'Reilly's audience is only 24 percent more likely to have that much schooling.
Plus, the network noted, "Daily Show" viewers are 26 percent more likely to have a household income more than $100,000, while O'Reilly's audience is only 11 percent more likely to make that much money.
So the guy watching Stewart may not only be smart, but may also be rich.
There have been a lot of great news programs about the Daily Show and Jon Stewart lately. I'm going to start archiving them here.
Can't wait for the upcoming Hilary Cinton on August 14th!
Here's one that went up on MSNBC this morning:
Stewart, ‘Daily Show’ at top of their game
Mock-news program’s political satire drawing larger audience, accolades
Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show" are up for five Emmy Awards next month, including best achievement in news, along with "60 Minutes" and "Nightline."
by the Associated Press.
(Thanks, Cory.)
He and “The Daily Show” are up for five Emmys next month, and the Television Critics Association gave him two awards last month. The critics even nominated “The Daily Show” for best achievement in news, along with “60 Minutes” and “Nightline.”On Aug. 14, the nation’s reigning political celebrity, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, is Stewart’s guest.
During unfunny times, viewers have responded to Stewart’s ability to make fun. The show’s average nightly audience has nearly doubled from 427,000 in 1999, the year he took over, to 788,000 so far this year.
“Even though terrible things are going on around us, I would hope that wouldn’t mean that the sense of humor is lost,” Stewart said, relaxing in his office after taping a show. “The idea isn’t to make jokes about horrible things. The idea is to find the absurdity in the difficult circumstances around us.”
Here is the full text of the article in case the link goes bad:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/947127.asp?cp1=1
Image: Stewart
Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show" are up for five Emmy Awards next month, including best achievement in news, along with "60 Minutes" and "Nightline."
Stewart, ‘Daily Show’ at top of their game
Mock-news program’s political satire drawing larger audience, accolades
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK, Aug. 4 — Jon Stewart could barely contain himself. A congressman had publicly called a colleague a “fruitcake” and, since it happened on a Friday night, Stewart couldn’t joke about it on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” until three days later.
“Even though terrible things are going on around us, I would hope that wouldn’t mean that the sense of humor is lost. The idea isn’t to make jokes about horrible things. The idea is to find the absurdity in the difficult circumstances around us.”
— JON STEWART
“I DO BELIEVE we need to go to a 24-hour fake news channel,” he said. “Fox can’t be the only fake news channel out there!”
Stewart can’t wait to bare the absurdities of the news and the people who cover it, and his sharp humor has made “The Daily Show” a growing force. No one hit the comic mark more consistently during the war in Iraq. As an election year approaches, Stewart’s in top form.
He and “The Daily Show” are up for five Emmys next month, and the Television Critics Association gave him two awards last month. The critics even nominated “The Daily Show” for best achievement in news, along with “60 Minutes” and “Nightline.”
On Aug. 14, the nation’s reigning political celebrity, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, is Stewart’s guest.
During unfunny times, viewers have responded to Stewart’s ability to make fun. The show’s average nightly audience has nearly doubled from 427,000 in 1999, the year he took over, to 788,000 so far this year.
“Even though terrible things are going on around us, I would hope that wouldn’t mean that the sense of humor is lost,” Stewart said, relaxing in his office after taping a show. “The idea isn’t to make jokes about horrible things. The idea is to find the absurdity in the difficult circumstances around us.”
Stewart helps keep political satire alive for a young audience that — the experts say — isn’t very attuned to the news.
The show’s fake “debate” about foreign policy, using film clips to show President Bush arguing about nation-building with presidential candidate Bush, was as pointed as a political cartoon.
“He’s really strong at political satire,” said CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, whose first name, naturally, has made him a target of Stewart’s barbs. “I don’t know of anybody who does it better than he does.”
Blitzer said he can tell that Stewart and his staff are news junkies.
“The Daily Show” recognizes that its audience has an astute media awareness, too. Stewart made note last week, for example, that The New York Times used an obituary of comedian Bob Hope written by a reporter, Vincent Canby, who died in 2000.
Stewart also didn’t let the latest odd Dan Rather moment pass by. He played tape of when the CBS anchor, in a deadpan voice, recited lyrics to “Take Me Home, Country Road” when former POW Jessica Lynch returned to West Virginia.
“I’m just glad he didn’t keep going,” Stewart said later. “He could have. There’s more choruses. He could have gone into ‘Annie’s Song.’ He could have gone into Jim Croce. He was on a roll.”
NO AX TO GRIND
Stewart’s political humor stands out, in part, because he’s willing to be tough at a time others aren’t. At the same time, he’s less threatening because he has no ideological ax to grind.
“Believe me, the idea of the show is not to be a bold, critical voice that stands out amidst timidity,” he said. “It’s more like, ‘I think we need a fart joke at the end of this because we’re getting too strident.’ Ultimately, everyone here thinks of ourselves in terms of being a comedy show and that’s it.”
He’s seen no evidence that his barbs against the president have drawn blood.
The rigid discipline of the Bush administration is easy to have fun with, he said. At the very least, it’s a big change from Monica Lewinsky jokes.
“When you look back on it now, I wish we were making jokes about that,” he said. “That was a luxurious scandal if there ever was one. Imagine a president right now who’d even have time for extra oral sex.”
“The Daily Show” will begin gearing up this fall for another presidential campaign. Right now, the staff is just happy the GOP convention is in New York, so they can sleep in their own beds.
Stewart’s “Indecision 2000” coverage attracted attention last time. With a larger audience, it’s likely to get even more this time.
The upcoming Clinton appearance is an indication of that. Other than the insatiable need for applause, Stewart can’t quite understand why it’s important for politicians to go on comedy shows. Not that he’s complaining.
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“I can’t imagine anyone lauding Churchill’s legacy as, yes, he rallied England during its darkest hours but, also, tremendous ribald wit,” he said. “Great leadership, as far as I know, doesn’t require that you go toe to toe with pranksters, but for some reason, they feel that it adds to their electability.”
Stewart is signed to stay with Comedy Central through the end of the 2004 elections. His name is always at the top of the list when broadcasters go looking for late-night talent. But unless one of the really big jobs — Jay Leno’s or David Letterman’s — open up unexpectedly, he’s probably better off staying where he is.
“There are things about those jobs that are very appealing,” he said. “There are things about those jobs that are unappealing. I’d probably think more about something else if I wasn’t happy where I was. But I don’t feel an emptiness, an itch. I like doing what I’m doing.”
