A new type of journalism may be emerging on the late-night scene, Communication Ph.D. candidate Dannagal Goldthwaite Young said yesterday at a presentation at the Annenberg School for Communication.
Young asserted that Daily Show host Jon Stewart's fresh, comedic approach to political commentary is stirring up interest among younger, more liberal viewers and provoking scorn from older, more conservative audiences.
Citing the example of fellow broadcast journalist Bill O'Reilly's assertion that 87 percent of Stewart's viewers are "stoned slackers," Young said that data taken from the National Annenberg Election Survey indicated that Daily Show viewers actually demonstrated more knowledge of current events than viewers of The Tonight Show or the Late Show with David Letterman.
"We have no idea if the smarter folks are learning from the show, or if the people that watch are already smarter," Young said to the group of about 40.
In a survey of 19,013 adults, Annenberg found that for a six-question political knowledge test, viewers of Letterman scored 2.91, viewers of Leno scored 2.95 and viewers of The Daily Show scored 3.59 items correctly.
"These findings do not show that The Daily Show is itself responsible for the higher knowledge among its viewers," Young said. She went on to say that The Daily Show assumes a certain level of political knowledge, but that it also covered campaign events and issues in depth, so viewers could have picked up information while watching.
Young pointed out that, while Stewart is quick to criticize the media, he never pretends he is not part of it, a point with which College junior Patrick Morales-Doyle agrees.
"You have a lot of people that make fun of politicians, but you don't have a lot of people that make fun of" the media, he said.
Young went on to praise Stewart for his open-minded attitude during interviews on his show.
"He actually asks his guests, often, 'Why should I change my mind about what I think? Tell me your side of the story -- I want to understand this,'" she said.
Daily Show viewers say that they think Stewart's techniques are effective.
"I think [comedy] helps people clarify their own viewpoints," Wharton junior Roanna Kong said. "It makes you laugh ... and really gets you to think about it."
Young was introduced by Communication Ph.D. candidate Bill Herman of Penn Students for Media Education and Reform. SMEAR sponsored the discussion.
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