The Incredible Effect Jon Stewart

2425 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: mass media and elections

"Liberal and conservative have lost their meaning in America. I represent the distracted center." proclaimed Jon Stewart (Nordquist 1). The liberal would be the Democrats while the conservative is referring to the Republicans. As the citizens of the United States continue to be frustrated by the government due to the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, the 2008 Recession, and the bipartisan deadlock in Congress, Stewart continues to criticize Democrats/Republicans alike in The Daily Show. To fully comprehend Jon Stewart’s role in the modern political landscape of the United States, one needs about his life, achievements/works, and his impact.
Jon Stewart had a pretty typical American childhood. Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz) was born to Don Leibowitz, a physicist working for Princeton, and Marian Leibowitz, an educational consultant, on November 28, 1962 in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Stewart was raised in a middle-class Jewish family. Stewart attended a yeshiva kindergarten in Trenton and later attended public school along with his brother. Stewart’s comedic abilities was obvious early on, “I was very little, so being funny helped me having big friends,” Stewart remarked (Gillick 2). At age eleven his parents separated which led Stewart’s father being estranged from Stewart. Stewart listed George Carlin and Richard Pryor as some of his early comedic influences early on (Bates 1). Stewart later gained a reputation as a class clown at Lawrence High School and also highly engrossed in politics (Gillick 3). Stewart described himself as “left-leaning” and an admirer of the 20th century American Socialist Eugene Debs. He graduated in 1980 and was described by his twelfth grade English teacher, Larry Nichol as “He was very ...

... middle of paper ...

...14 Dec. 2013.
Shapiro, Ari. "Jon Stewart's Latest Act: Sept. 11 Responders Bill." NPR. NPR, 26 Dec. 2010. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.
Wapshott, Nicholas. "Faking It: What Is Jon Stewart About? And Why Should We Welcome The Daily Show? Nicholas Wapshott Reports from New York." New Statesman [1996] 10 Oct. 2005: 42+. Student Resources in Context. Web. 6 Dec. 2013.
Carter, Bill. "CNN Will Cancel 'Crossfire' and Cut Ties to Commentator." Nytimes.com. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr., 6 Jan. 2005. Web. 14 Dec. 2013.
Chinni, Dante. "Politics Counts: The Impact of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert."Blogs.wsj.com. Dow Jones & Company, 17 Feb. 2012. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
Morin, Richard. "Jon Stewart, Enemy of Democracy?" Washingtonpost.com. Katharine Weymouth, 23 June 2006. Web. 14 Dec. 2013.
Ryals, Jimmy. "Art and Politics." Web.archive.org. The Internet Archive, 30 May 2006. Web. 8 Dec. 2013

Show More
Related

  • Who is Dick Morris?

    3399 Words  | 7 Pages

    On the turntable of American politics Dick Morris has established himself as a masterful disk jockey. However, his ability to artistically mix campaign messages has earned him a scratched personal reputation. The rhetoric of Dick Morris transcends partisan boundaries to such a degree that it lacks foundation. His career has earned him praise but at the expense of intense scorn. His political strategy and poll based campaigning have earned him a reputation as both a genius and amoral. In many ways the controversial aspects of his messages reflect contemporary discussion of American politics. The flaws of his character reveal some of the flaws in our representative system. The recent Impeachment Trial of President Clinton has also brought attention to flaws in our representative system. Dick Morris's political commentary on the Impeachment and the work of his career offers insight with which to examine a growing discontent among the American public towards our nation's politics.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Comedian Jon Stewart

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    Comedian Jon Stewart gives a speech on the Daily Show during the “Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear”. He wants the viewers of the Daily Show to realize the difference between the real and fake threats and to take a humorous perspective on most of America’s “problems”. Stewart also emphasizes to his audience not to take every person on the media by his word and not to overreact to everything they hear. He uses metaphors, comparisons, and hypothetical examples to get his point across.

    Read More

  • Jon Stewart versus Jim Cramer

    940 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kurtz, Howard. "Jon Stewart and Kumar Go to the White House." The Washington Post 13 Apr. 2009: 1-2. Print.

    Read More

  • Why Is John Oliver Reliable

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    John Oliver, comedian, a reliable source for America’s breaking news stories. Are his stories reliable? This is a tough question because people have varying opinions of his show and it is sometimes difficult to tell if he is telling the truth or not. This show is full of laughter, comedy, and he makes some really good points. It is just hard to tell if he is using accurate facts for his show and if they are truthful. To clarify this issue, I am going to describe several points to show John Oliver’s authority. John Oliver is a reliable source because he does extensive research on the topics, provides examples on the show in real life and is more trusted than any other news station.

    Read More

  • Good Night and Good Luck

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    The media’s role in a democracy is to advocate on the public’s behalf and serve as a “watchdog” for the public’s interest. This is portrayed, in the film, by Murrow defending Milo Radulovich. Milo was going to be discharged from the United S...

    Read More

  • Informing America: 'Fake' News Programs

    1163 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Fake” news programs, such as The Daily Show, Zinser reasonably argues, have the potential to dilute mass media and deceive viewers. The Daily Show has been straightforward about its lack of legitimacy as a hard hitting news program, but “the show’s content and guest list suggest otherwise” (Zinser 367). Zinser indicates that The Daily Show should hold itself to higher standards because “people might well think they’re being fully or sufficiently informed while watching” (367). In other words, Zinser believes that if viewers tune in with the expectation of becoming informed and The Daily Show’s content consists of significant topics, the creators ...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of CNN And Fox News

    1796 Words  | 4 Pages

    Both CNN and Fox News influence these immense populations with how each utilize pathos, ethos and logos in the topics discussed during the broadcasted show. For example, Fox News 's audience seems to be primarily conservative, while CNN’s audience seem to be more liberal (Engel). So each network’s stories “focus on the issues that” conservatives or liberals “want to watch and talk about” (James). These topics are used to develop a more conservative or liberal fan base in the respective news networks. As the dominant news network on cable television, Fox News impacts the greatest quantity of citizens, bringing in an audience of over two million for primetime (James). Therefore, Fox News influences the largest percentage of Americans listening to news networks by effectively using these manipulative literary techniques. However, CNN has a younger audience than Fox News (Carter), which contributes to CNN’s audience growing from 350,000 a night, in 2013 (Agee), to 629,000 viewers a night (James). CNN and Fox News compete with each other to influence the greatest amount of people and the public’s opinion of current events. Each network appeals to pathos, logos and ethos differently and similarly to coax the greatest amount of listeners each night.

    Read More

  • Satire, the Mirror of Reality

    1859 Words  | 4 Pages

    Satire is the most powerful democratical weapon in the arsenal of modern media. Sophia McClennen, the author of America According to Colbert: Satire as Public Pedagogy, describes it as the modern form of public pedagogy, as it helps to educate the masses about current issues (73). In fact, ”a Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey in 2004 found that 61 percent of people under the age of thirty got some of their political 'news' from late-night comedy shows” (McClennen 73). This statistic shows how influential satirical shows such as The Colbert Report or South Park can be. Satire invites critical self introspection from us in a way that no other media can. It also acts as an unbiased mirror that reflects the mirror image of the flaws of our society. This beautiful process, when unhindered and uncensored, is the epitome of western freedom of speech, which is the single most significant right that deserves to be cherished and defended.

    Read More

  • Synthesis Essay

    884 Words  | 2 Pages

    Television has affected every aspect of life in society, radically changing the way individuals live and interact with the world. However, change is not always for the better, especially the influence of television on political campaigns towards presidency. Since the 1960s, presidential elections in the United States were greatly impacted by television, yet the impact has not been positive. Television allowed the public to have more access to information and gained reassurance to which candidate they chose to vote for. However, the media failed to recognize the importance of elections. Candidates became image based rather than issue based using a “celebrity system” to concern the public with subjects regarding debates (Hart and Trice). Due to “hyperfamiliarity” television turned numerous people away from being interested in debates between candidates (Hart and Trice). Although television had the ability to reach a greater number of people than it did before the Nixon/Kennedy debate, it shortened the attention span of the public, which made the overall process of elections unfair, due to the emphasis on image rather than issue.

    Read More

  • Daily Show Analysis

    1892 Words  | 4 Pages

    Television network Comedy Central, obviously known for their comedy programs, has a show called the Daily Show which doubles as a news broadcasting program of sorts. The broadcast is hosted by a South African comedian and actor named Trevor Noah. During the episode of the Daily Show following the democratic debate in Las Vegas, Noah and his news team did a post debate analysis where they presented a few of the main topics of the debate as well as their own remarks on each of the five individual candidates. While the Daily Show focused primarily on the satirical commentary of the top news headlines, the content and presentation can be analyzed through Nosich’s Standards of Reasoning to determine if the comedy show could be considered a reliable news source.

    Read More

  • Political Divide In America Essay

    425 Words  | 1 Pages

    Many Americans don’t trust the media, they rely on “on an array of outlets – with varying audience profiles – for political news. And many consistent conservatives and liberals hear dissenting political views in their everyday lives” (Political Polarization).

    Read More

  • The Powerful Effect of Fake News

    2875 Words  | 6 Pages

    From the beginning days of the printing press to the always evolving internet of present day, the media has greatly evolved and changed over the years. No one can possibly overstate the influential power of the new media of television on the rest of the industry. Television continues to influence the media, which recently an era of comedic television shows that specialize in providing “fake news” has captivated. The groundbreaking The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and its spin-off The Colbert Report have successfully attracted the youth demographic and have become the new era’s leading political news source. By parodying news companies and satirizing the government, “fake news” has affected the media, the government, and its audience in such a way that Bill Moyers has claimed “you simply can’t understand American politics in the new millennium without The Daily Show,” that started it all (PBS).

    Read More

  • Stand Up Comedy And The Negative Beliefs Of Stand-Up Comedy

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    For many people comedy simply means getting a laugh out of something, but in reality, comedy can be used for more than that. Due to its volatility, stand-up comedy tends to draw criticism for being offensive and for spreading negative stereotypes. This, however, is a sign of social progress because it means that comedians are pushing social boundaries. Stories and expressions that are normally unacceptable are met with laughter and agreement when they are told on stage (Cohen 2). The fact that the content is sugar-coated in humor makes it easier to digest matters that are often looked at as being taboo. When the audience laughs at such taboo subjects it leads them to seek out and explore those subjects. When thinking about a comedian that talk about controversial topics, one comedian stands out the most in my mind and that is Dave Chappelle. Chappelle used his voice to challenge audiences to see the world from his perspective and discuss the institutional racism that African Americans faced in American society. The Chappelle Show served as a channel for his audience to navigate racism and racial

    Read More

  • Media System Dependency Theory

    3057 Words  | 7 Pages

    ...oen, G., & Sahin, V. (2007). No Joke: A Comparison of Substance in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Broadcast Television Coverage of the 2004 Presidential Election Campaign. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 51(2), 213-227.

    Read More

  • Television Talk Shows

    3457 Words  | 7 Pages

    Scott, Gini, Graham. (1996) Can we Talk? The Power and Influence of Talk Shows. New

    Read More

More about The Incredible Effect Jon Stewart

Open Document