RubySoho
Winston
The Most Trusted Journalist In America
July 28th 2009 09:20
For many years it was celebrated anchorman Walter Cronkite. But when he died earlier this month Time magazine conducted a nation wide survey, asking 9409 Americans this question: Now that Walter Cronkite has passed on, who is America's most trusted newscaster?
To make it easier Time kindly made it a multiple choice question with surveyees choosing between Charlie Gibson (ABC), Brian Williams (NBC). Katie Couric (CBS) and Jon Stewart (Comedy Central).
So guess who won?
If you said Jon Stewart, comedian and fake newsreader from the Daily Show on the Comedy channel, then you'd be right. It's so funny but oh so tragic at the same time.
Here's the survey breakdown:
7%- Katie Couric
19%- Charlie Gibson
29%- Brian Williams
44%- Jon Stewart
Not only did he win but he pretty much steamrolled the opposition. Now don't get me wrong, I love Jon Stewart, as well as being funny as hell, I think he is responsible and honest but he is -by his own admission- an entertainer, not a journalist. When a large majority of the population of any country begin to look to a comedian for a reputable and responsible account of the news then you know the media of that country is in serious trouble. But when that country also happens to be world's pre-eminent power, well that's a scary state of affairs. For all of us.
Now to be fair, Americans have actually counted Stewart as one of their most trusted newcasters for a number of years now and I'm sure many of them do it as a tongue in cheek reference to the sad state of the media in the United States. But that he could actually top a nation wide poll of close to 10,000 people is an alarm signal that is ringing loud and clear. But is the American media willing to hear it?
To make it easier Time kindly made it a multiple choice question with surveyees choosing between Charlie Gibson (ABC), Brian Williams (NBC). Katie Couric (CBS) and Jon Stewart (Comedy Central).
So guess who won?
If you said Jon Stewart, comedian and fake newsreader from the Daily Show on the Comedy channel, then you'd be right. It's so funny but oh so tragic at the same time.
Here's the survey breakdown:
7%- Katie Couric
19%- Charlie Gibson
29%- Brian Williams
44%- Jon Stewart
Not only did he win but he pretty much steamrolled the opposition. Now don't get me wrong, I love Jon Stewart, as well as being funny as hell, I think he is responsible and honest but he is -by his own admission- an entertainer, not a journalist. When a large majority of the population of any country begin to look to a comedian for a reputable and responsible account of the news then you know the media of that country is in serious trouble. But when that country also happens to be world's pre-eminent power, well that's a scary state of affairs. For all of us.
Now to be fair, Americans have actually counted Stewart as one of their most trusted newcasters for a number of years now and I'm sure many of them do it as a tongue in cheek reference to the sad state of the media in the United States. But that he could actually top a nation wide poll of close to 10,000 people is an alarm signal that is ringing loud and clear. But is the American media willing to hear it?
hmmm...
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Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
me!
i actually really respect Barbara Walters, i think shes quite objective, and im surprised Katie Couric didnt rate higher
but lets be frank, im really surprised Americans didnt pick Murphy Brown, Lois Lane, Kent Brockman, April O'Neil . . . or even Sarah Palin . . . you know, one of those fictional "journalists"
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Sarah Palin, haha. She stepped down today. And as a parting swipe to the media she told them they should "stop makin' stuff up". Um yes. She of the "obama pals around domestic terrorists" is telling other people not to make things up.
I wonder if she was actually a parody? Duty of care Sarah. Duty of Care.
Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
HES A TRUSTWORTHY JOURNALIST
he will catch the world in the headlights of his justice
will this video ever stop being funny???
haha
now remember, they never give you credit for how loud you say it . . . giant marauding godless killing machines . . .
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
It's the new york times bill! they hate george bush, of course they're going to hate you!
Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
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Artist Quirk
just a random observation . . .
Comment by Carolyn Cordon
Light Within
How do You Express Your Creativity?
Food Leaf
Fox/News - false advertising.
Comment by koyunbaba
The New Leftist
Comment by The wonderful Peter Yang
The wonderful Peter Yang's Variety blog
Power Ranger Online
HAITI EARTHQUAKE
Comedy TV Online
Comment by Fremen
Tennis
The Grudging Geek
Progressively Worse
I think that it all comes down to koyunbaba said above and the effect that Michael Moore talks about in Bowling for Columbine. Every night, if I turn on the local news, it's always about some murderer, rapist, or arsonist that recently committed a crime. Instead of just know what happened in the world, we are always spoon fed the reporter's personal opinions on this. John Stewart and Colbert are different and refreshing, not only because they provide entertainment, but also because they lure us into the news unwittingly.
When we watch a normal news program, we are always wary of the spin that the network/anchors are giving us. For example, FOX is constantly trying to scare into thinking that pretty much everything around me will either give me cancer or will be the next cure for AIDS. This type of over-hyping just got boring. Colbert and Stewart are different because we can see through their "spin" very easily. I noticed that they seem to be very liberal in one sense, and since I am liberal, I like this, but they aren't like a traditional liberal news program.
People think that they are on the inside, and they can see through their spins and tricks, which is why they are the most trusted for News.
Comment by Flake
Koovies
Comment by Carolyn Cordon
Light Within
How do You Express Your Creativity?
Food Leaf
I'm Australian, and I wish we had TV as good as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. The Chaser team surely could come up with something, if they're as good as they think they are.
Comment by Dianna G
I Wish This Was 42
Fictional Worlds
On one hand, yay for Jon Stewart.
On the other hand... well that says something about the media... it really does. I think it's in large part because the people who do the newscasts think that people want entertainment-they don't realize you can have entertainment while still talking about something OTHER than celebrity gossip. But Jon Stewart does.
~Dianna
Comment by Deanna B
Cooper would have been my pick,well above Williams,Gibson or Couric. He's a well respected journalist in every sense of the word.(and gets close to as many tweets as Ashton Kutcher...if you believe CNN hype.)
There's no doubt Jon Stewart is hilarious and informative on the politics of the day...but in my opinion he is a comedian not a newscaster.
I think the poll results reflect how weary people are of hearing news of the horrors of war, brutality and murder closer to home, and the downward spiral of the economy...to name just a few.
Jon Stewart gives the public a break from all that and produces a show that makes them laugh.
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
yep, i agree Stewart and Cobert give a good run down of the happenings in America but are they journalists? And yes, I'm sure some people will be lapping up Colbert's words for all the wrong reasons
Hi Koyunbaba,
well i have no problem with local news sources focusing on kittens in trees and other local happenings. But I do think its a problem that your national news networks are so lacking. I don't understand it. Australia has its fair share of trashy current affairs and bad reporting but I don't think its likely that a comedian will top the poll of most trusted newscaster. Like I said, I do love Jon Stewart, but he is a comedian, not a journalist.
Hi Peter,
Jon is the epitome of cool!
Hi Fremen,
I think Stewart wins out over Colbert because he plays it straight.
When I first went to the US a decade ago as a backbacker the lack of knowledge the locals exhibited when it came to world events was a big topic of conversation in the hostels. And of course, this is a result of the lack of world news coverage. I think it also has to do with your 'world's only Superpower' status. I think so many Americans just don't care what happens outside of America. Unfortunately.
Hi Flake,
That may be so and in fact I agree with you. But the problem is not whether or not Stewart is telling the truth. The problem is, why is a comedian doing the job of a trained and qualified journalist? His job is to satirise the media. Not be it.
Hi Diana,
I totally agree. The US media has a problem.
Hi Deanna,
I'm not very familiar with Cooper's work so I will take your word on that. But I don't think Stewart's popularity is due to his ability to make people forget the world's brutality and make them laugh. I do think it is a testament to the deep distrust many people of have the media and their frustration at the lack of quality news programs. Let me just reiterate. Jon Stewart- a comedian who satirises the news- has just topped a poll as the most trusted newscaster in the United States. Yipes. If you're not afraid, you should be.
Comment by Flake
If people are laughing at the satire he performs, doesn't that assume that they're fairly news-savvy?
Comment by Kristin Wolgemuth
Poetry Lighthouse
What's in a word
Time to Get Up Club
Comment by Deanna B
Time Mag polled a measly 9,409 people. There are over 303 million people in the U.S. The poll is hardly indicative of what the majority of Americans think.
While the three actual Newscasters in the poll are not my personal favorites...I'm sure they have a fan base of over 10 thousand people each.If those people were polled I think you would have seen an entirely different response.
The fact that Jon Stewart topped a poll of such a minute fraction of the population should not strike fear into the hearts of anyone.He has a huge following for entirely different reasons.
The poll gives us a very narrow view ,if you will. Add a few more good Newscasters and poll the entire adult population of the United States and you will actually know what the voting public thinks of the media.
I wonder what the outcome of the Presidential election would have been if only the votes of 9,409 Americans were tallied.
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Well that's kind of my point- he isn't really a journalist but people seem to trust him to deliver their news accurately. More so than actual journalists.
Hi Deanna,
The thing about polls is that they survey a cross section of the population to give an indication what the population as a whole thinks. I am not saying that it is error proof. No poll is. But 9409 people is actually a very large number for a survey.
They say that companies take complaints very seriously because for every person that writes a letter there are two thousand more or so who are silently pissed off. That's how statistics like this work. We might be individuals but we are often similar in the way we think. 44% of 9409 Americans from across the country counted Stewart as their number 1 journalist. I'm not saying it should 'strike fear' into anyone's heart, only that you should perhaps be wary of the fact that the media in that part of the world is sadly lacking and perhaps it's time you all demanded something better.
Comment by a9bian
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nihaoma
Comment by Postmodern Critic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
I like this poll, I must say.
Maybe what it says is that Americans have a good sense of humour and like the 'wild card' option as opposed to the journalists who all go about telling the truth in the same way. It shows that people value creativity, and what is more creative than being tickled into laugher?
But I can see where you're coming from as well.
Hmmm.