News is no joke, and many journalists go to great measures to report objective and balanced news. Yet young people often ignore traditional televised news outlets because the same efforts journalists make to preserve their integrity can result in a finished product that may seem repetitive or even, dare I say, boring.
This is why Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” host and executive producer Jon Stewart, who announced he would be stepping down later this year, will be missed.
After his announcement a week ago, young adults began lamenting their future loss via social media, and news outlets immediately began speculating as to who would take over.
“It is time for someone else to have [this] opportunity,” Stewart said.
“I don’t have any specific plans,” Stewart said on “The Daily Show” last week. “Got a lot of ideas. I got a lot of things in my head. I’m going to have dinner on a school night with my family, who I have heard from multiple sources are lovely people.”
With the end of Stewart’s contract, Comedy Central is losing its biggest star, television is losing their highest paid late-night host and many people are losing an icon, who taught them that it’s okay to laugh at the news. Other broadcast media outlets should learn to lighten up a little so that they too can enjoy a robust young audience.
Jon Stewart is paid between $25 and $30 million a year, according to a report by TV Guide in August 2013.
Although Stewart has reminded viewers time and again that “The Daily Show” is not a credible source of news, young people continue to look to him as their main source of news.
According to a 2004 survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, adults ages 18-29 watch shows like “The Daily Show” to stay informed about politics and news, nearly as much as nightly news networks and newspapers.
“It’s a way to watch the news, but with comedy at the same time,” Jake Reyes, a senior psychology major, said.
Last year, Stewart’s show averaged 2.2 million viewers per night, according to the New York Times last week.
He has been able to keep viewers coming back for 15 years because there’s just nothing else quite like “The Daily Show.
“I think a lot of people in our generation like his style of news,” Kelsey George, a 24-year-old geography major, said.
Stewart has been able to use his comedic wit to show that politics are more than deserving of our laughter.
“When a video clip reveals a politician’s backpedaling, verbal contortions or mindless prattle, Stewart can state the obvious — ridiculing such blather as it deserves to be ridiculed — or remain silent but speak volumes merely by arching an eyebrow,” wrote Rachel Smolkin for American Journalism Review in 2007.
This is not calling for newsrooms around the country to focus on one-liners over facts, but it is a reminder that there is more than one method of delivering content.
The Yin to “Fox News’” very conservative Yang, Stewart has become a symbolic pillar for left-wing politics — having hosted President Obama more than once.
He has appeared on Fox and held multiple debates with his “frenemy” Bill O’Reilly, including one in 2012 that had trouble streaming because of the amount of people trying to watch, according to ABC news.
With the end of his 17-year run, other news media outlets ought to recognize that, though he was sometimes lacking in credibility by industry standards, many people still respected him because he actually came off as heartfelt and honest, and he knew that laughter was the key to most of our hearts.
But still, Jimmy Aguilar, a senior sociology major, sums it up best: “He’s too good; no one can replace him.”
Farewell Jon.
