Media Analysis: The Daily Show

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1. Introduction The Daily Show has been a voice in American media since 1996. For almost 20 years, people have turned to Comedy Central’s nightly news program for both news and entertainment. Citizen across America, night after night, turn on their televisions to hear Jon Stewart’s take on the current voice of media. How has The Daily Show made it through two decades of news culture? Is it the satirical approach to modern day news? Or could it be the credibility of Jon Stewart’s thoughts and opinions? While many people will argue that The Daily Show is just a form of entertainment, the argument that The Daily Show is credible news can also be made. In this paper, I intend to show that even though The Daily Show is considered entertainment,…show more content…
In the episode of The Daily Show following 9/11, Jon Stewart gave an opening monologue that touched many viewers. This monologue marked a turning point in both The Daily Show and Jon Stewart’s career. “Between 2001 and 2005, its audience doubled to 1.3 million viewers a night, two thirds of whom were between the ages of 18 and 49” (Brewer and Marquardt, 250). Jon Stewart had become one of the most influential voices in American media and politics. Stewart and his “dreamteam” of correspondents at the time, (Steve Carell, Steven Colbert, Ed Helms and Robert Corrody) covered the Bush Administration, and then became a powerful voice in the presidential election of 2004. As his “dreamteam” of correspondents moved on to their own projects, many people were fearful that The Daily Show would lose it’s edge. Fortunately, Jon Stewart has an eye for talent , and every team of correspondents has just as humorous as the team preceding them. John Hugar describes this point in The Daily Show as feeling “a bit like Saturday Night Live in its prime years; it could shuffle its cast year-after-year without losing its comedic…show more content…
In it’s roots, it is a mere comedy show, created to mock broadcast television. Over the years, it has grown to be something much more powerful. Since 1996, we have seen the show cycle through three different anchors. The first, Craig Kilborn, who established the show. The second was Jon Stewart, who pioneered the show into the hybrid of comedy and political news that it is today. Finally there is Trevor Noah, the fresh faced young comedian who recently took
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