TelevisionCriticsAssoc to give The Daily Show award for best news program

[Robbien]

There was no headline on this article since it was just the second news blurb under an entertainment article. I looked in Google for another separate article but all mention of this is also buried in other entertainment articles. Doesn't surprise me the news media isn't highlighting it. Hope this is okay

CBS News President Andrew Heyward said yesterday that he tried to be good-natured when the Television Critics Association decided to give Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" - a comedy series - the award for best news and information program Saturday night. But the more he thought about it, he said, the more it bothered him.

The greatest wrong of all, he said, was not to acknowledge that "there are people around the world who literally now are risking their lives, risking death to bring back today's story from Iraq." It would have been better, he said, to have declared no winner at all.

The award from critics points to a larger issue, said Heyward, about what is and what isn't news. "We have to accept that there is a broad array of news, pseudo-news, ersatz news, meta-news, and one of our roles over time is going to be to sort through all those things and actually say, 'Okay, what are the facts?'"
In fact, "Daily Show" anchor Jon Stewart openly mocked critics for choosing his show, reminding them in a taped acceptance speech that "we're fake!"

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/213731p-184034c.html

[uhhuh]

1. Yep

Heyward said:

"We have to accept that there is a broad array of news, pseudo-news, ersatz news, meta-news, and one of our roles over time is going to be to sort through all those things and actually say, 'Okay, what are the facts?'"


You guys might want to try that sometime, and maybe you might get an award too.

[Cannikin]

2. This thrills me to no end and validates everything I've said about TDS

I tell everyone I see that its the news, the way it SHOULD be.

[jpgray]

3. Jon Stewart was the only person to ask Bob Woodward one simple question

He noted that in Bob's book Bush says 'Sorry fellas, I'm not buying it' when finally shown the WMD intelligence, yet they had been harping on WMD for NINE MONTHS before this supposed event took place! Not ONE journalist in all the shows I watched Woodward on mentioned this mind-numbingly obvious fact.

[nodehopper]

67. wait, can you explain that more?

I'm sorry, I haven't read the book and I missed TDS that night. Who was harping on the WMDs? BushCo? What did Woodward respond???

[TEXASYANKEE]

91. For everything you want to know about this subject,

Check out Bob Somersby at thedailyhowler.com

[nodehopper]

94. thank you

[doctorbombeigh]

4. Yeah, they're fake but it's a damned good news show...

just the same. Amid the outright (and highly amusing) goofiness is a willingness to not only look at our reality, but to be clear about who/what is actually responsible for that reality or at least ask some relevant questions. They do a very nice job of highlighting rank stupidity, something noticeably absent from American news.

In its own way, I find it less fake than "real" news programs on a pretty regular basis. They eschew the usual "here we have Rep. Blah (R) to defend the administration's position on X, while Rep. Yadda (D) will give us the other position." Both drone on with their talking points on the "issue" while avoiding any contact with Planet Earth or its inhabitants. The anchors don't seem to be interested in any of that distasteful Earthly contact either.

If the "real" journalists resent the Daily Shows popularity, perhaps they should spend less time embedded up Bush's behind (or Congress', Corporate America's, etc.) and more time actually covering news. We're supposed to feel indignant at their loss of this prize because it slights them, it doesn't honor their bravery in Iraq. Umm... yeah. That's a bit much.

Not only did these gutless punks NOT ask any of the questions required by their profession, they actually helped Bush&Co. sell the American people down the river and into this war. Now we're dying over there every day, as well as doing a considerable amount of killing - and it's costing us billions we don't have. So this CBS clown is whining because some reporters are in danger and a few have been killed. Somehow, I'm not all broken up about their situation. (Yes, I feel bad for their families.)

The Daily Show covers the news the way they see it and that's generally in line with exactly what it is, bless their blackened hearts and giant balls.

[Sideways]

7. Excellent Rant Doc

Welcome to DU! I'm looking forward to more of your posts!!!:thumbsup:

[Cooley Hurd]

25. Jon NAILED Blitzer on TDS last week...

...forgive me, I don't remember what Blitzer said verbatim, but it was along the lines of "in light of 9/11, we could not be sure Saddam wasn't creating nuclear weapons..."

Blitzer: (in defense of decision to go to war with Iraq) blah, blah, 9/11, blah, blah, mushroom cloud!

Jon: Ironically, Pakistan was selling "mushroom cloud stuff" to every country except Iraq!

Jon then proceeded to spin around in his chair, saying "crazy! Wooooo!"

TDS deserves this award - and this should serve as notice to the other news organizations that we're tired of their bullshit!!!:grr:

[Bunny]

27. He totally handed Blitzer his head, didn't he?

I can't quote it verbatim, but the best parts for me were:

Stewart: How did W screw up the WMD intelligence?
Blitzer: Haven't you ever made a mistake?

and later on:

Blitzer: I was embedded over there. And EVERYONE was telling us that Iraq had WMD. We believed them.

Uh, hello, Wolf? Did you ever consider INVESTIGATING this yourself, to see if it was true? Or did you just go along with what EVERYONE told you? Blitzer was trying so hard to be hip and cool and he ended up looking like a complete tool. Which is exactly what he is.

[Nlighten1]

42. It was great.

Blitzer was stammering after Jon got done with him.

[samsingh]

82. Jon destroyed Blitz with

were all the reporters retarded? or something to that effect.

[tridim]

74. Then he called him "retarded"

and Wolf looked like he got slapped across the face. Jon started to apologize but didn't. :)

I know that the word "retarded" isn't PC, but it fits perfectly when used in context describing the US media.

[dolo amber]

76. Jon: So, is the current US media 'group think' , or....

just retarded??

Wolf: Well, it's NOT retarded...


That pretty much sums it up right there. :D

[dave29]

100. Jon was amazing

Blitzer had talked about Pentagon "Group Think" - and Jon turned it around later in the interview and used it against him to prove his point...

It was really a lovely thing to watch. My wife and I were laughing and dropping our jaws to the floor at the same time.

[myrna minx]

49. Hear Hear.

Excellent. :toast: Welcome to DU!

[liberalmuse]

51. Very nicely stated!

The award is great news. 'The Daily Show' is my one regret about cancelling cable.

Newsflash: It doesn't mean a damn thing to put your 'journalists' in harm's way if you're just going to manipulate the story they file in order to please your corporate masters.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Sideways]

8. Yes Pulitzers For The Onion

Remember O'Liely won a Peabody.....oops no he didn't he was lying yet again.

Who do you think should have won Chuck? There are quite a few intelligent responses here (yours withstanding)that believe THE DAILY SHOW is the only feeble attempt at truth by the so called journalist in the US. If the news has to come through satire so the FUCK what?

It appears that many of us "need help." Welcome to DU, I'm sure you'll make many friends and influence many people. :silly:

[0007]

10. Great reply to Chuck baby!

One thing about Jon Stewart and his show their is no fabrication of the news, it is the way it is!

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. Ah, yes....calling another poster names...

...that usually happens on DU when certain posters get backed into a corner and lack the ability to make fact-based rational responses.

You hit that corner kind of early, didn't you?

[Robbien]

15. We get it and we are applauding it

Yes the award was given as a protest against real news programs. We here at DU also protest the real news programs. Now hopefully the real news programs get the hint that we see through their lockstep reporting of White House propaganda.

And calling us retarded and dim is very rude.

[Sideways]

16. Oh Yes I Am Dim And Retarded

I didn't understand it was a protest against REAL news, I thought it was a brilliant slap in the face to the Pravdaesque SHIT that is being peddled as news these days.

You can not be so retarded or dim to understand what the Peabody comment was about...or are you?

Keep digging Chuck holes are your friend.:silly:

[UpInArms]

22. we must all be retarded then Mr._Charlie

because honesty in reporting is sorely lacking - at least TDS is honest is saying "it's a fake".

Wish all those other snoozeshows were half as honest.

ABC attempted to whitewash Ahnold's statement last night by saying he was "just acting" like on a SNL skit.

:puke:

was that a "news" program? nah - it was spin.

Grow up Sweetie and learn to think for yourself - maybe someday, you, too, can be "retarded".

[Justice]

24. Actually, I Think The Message Is

that the critics realize the "real" news is fake, and the Daily Show "fake" news is real.

Congratulations Jon!

[psychopomp]

46. Congrats all DS staff

That show takes risks to educate with humor. Comedy has always lampooned the status quo and has always contained pertinent criticism folded into its ironic stance.

TV news has long been an "unreliable source."

[Generator]

83. You got it!

The Daily Show is the only thing that keeps me sane. Our current media is like living in a Communist country, and then having that 20 minutes a day of Daily Show-truth that keeps you from going over the edge. "Hey I'm not crazy after all, there is somebody else that gets it!"

(oh and DU but we're just a bunch of internet wackos way out of the mainstream on a hatefest) :o

[doctorbombeigh]

26. You're missing the point, Charlie...

When TDS uses the day's news footage (their best weapon along with the pun) to illustrate the total insanity of American life, particularly our political life - it WORKS. We are actually able to see it for what it is. Yes, we may see it other ways, understand the issues in broader and/or deeper context, but you cannot beat the clarity and effectiveness of brilliant political satire. It has always been a vital and necessary part of American politcal discourse and it is, actually, quite serious and very useful to We the Peeps.

I may revere Jim Lehrer as an old-school newsman, but he cannot and will not strip these freaks to their skivvies and serve them up with egg on their faces. Lehrer won't listen to their endless, lying bullshit, turn and look at them and say, "What in the hell are you talking about? That's just crazy and here's why it's crazy," no matter WHAT kind of lunacy they spew at him and at US. In fact, our experience of the past 30 years shows us that NO "real" news employee or organization will confront them anywhere near aggressively enough.

Oh no! There must be the "real news" appearance of taking these clowns seriously in the name of pseudo-balance. It must seem to be balanced, even if reality is ignored/buried under the lies and spin of Reps. Blah (R) and Yadda (D) (and their partisan 'think'tank dittoheads), whose purpose is to obscure the news, rather than to clarify it. On that level, Mr. Lehrer does not serve the American people well as a news source and the Daily Show serves us extraordinarily well as a news source.

Charlie - think about Lenny Bruce and tell me that the The Daily Show isn't serious. It's serious and it's valuable.

[Robbien]

29. Another good response Doc

And all this obscuring of the news has been the result of a deliberate campaign of the RW. David Brock described it in his book "Blinded by the Right".

Welcome to DU!

[doctorbombeigh]

81. Oh yeah - Brock coming clean was amazing...

and yet we STILL have these freaks out there, every day, selling us Voodoo Economics as a valid theory. Bush&Co keep selling it, the neo-cons keep selling it, stupid people still actually believe in it and the "real" news folks keep right on letting them get away with it. This, after its architect, Brock, completely debunked it and outright admitted that "he made it up" out of wholecloth and that it has no validity.

And they think The Daily Show getting an award is out of line? They can just Cheney right off.

(Nice of LimpDick to give us a new euphemism for "fuck" one can never have enough of those. It's the most useful thing he's done for me during his tenure as VP.)

[Name removed]

41. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

13. Yes, Lord help us....

Save us from folks that still believe that the captive mainstream media is reporting factual news.

Newsflash for you, Chuckie...TRUTHFUL information becomes news no matter how it gets reported.

[jpgray]

31. You need to go see a production of King Lear

Sometimes the fools are the only ones who tell the truth.

[leesa]

36. Sorry Charlie, but the news sold as 'news' is not authentic

If the 'news' outlets can't stop lying and whoring for the WH, then they can be called 'news' outlets, now can they? It is the only news available in America.

[sandnsea]

44. Informing the public is news

A person could be just as informed from watching TDS as they can from any other news program. Since TDS covers things nobody else covers, I'd say it deserves an award and the other news programs deserve to be embarrassed.

[Bandit]

77. Yep the "Liberal Media" is the only real news..........are you awake?

I thought you guys didn't like the "Liberal Media". Now you are defending it as the only "real news". Get your stories straight will you. You guys make my head spin.

[Crunchy Frog]

6. Daily Show

is the only news program in this country right now that isn't fake. Jon Stewart is the only one who does really in depth, critical analyses of the stories, instead of just parroting WH talking points.

Just because it's done in a tongue in cheek, humorous fashion, doesn't make it any less valid.

And I'm sorry that there are "news" people risking their lives in Iraq to bring us government propoganda, but reckless stupidity in service of a facsist agenda, shouldn't necessarily be rewarded by being given an award.

Giving the award to TDS shows that there are still some people out there that recognize and respect quality journalism. The fact that the only place quality journalism can be practiced is on a comedy show is a pitiful commentary on the state of our news media.

End of rant.

[ronabop]

9. I love it!

The fake news is now more real than the "real" news.

I watch TDS every night, just for the giggles. They respect honesty, and treat talking points like the stupid garbage that it is.

-Bop

[keopeli]

11. So the Media Moguls got their panties in a wad, so what? It's simple...

This award is from the Television Critics Association, yet the recipients can't seem to get that they are being criticized.

The Daily Show has one very simple difference from the other shows. They are not in a race to get their program out. They get to actually think about what they are reporting and present bizarre and often unbelievable non-sequitors, mis-statements, dichotomies, etc in a humourous way (so they don't get in trouble). They get to interview people and ask unbelievable questions and get real answers because they do it with humour. I've watched that show when it's not funny at all, but it's still interesting because they are pointing out the obvious, which many of us consider to be relevant news.

Let's not care if someone doesn't like the Television Critics' criticism because they gave an award to someone else. Let's applaud the Critics for being real critics.

I can't believe Heyward would approve PR that makes him appear so vulnerable.

Keo

[Gin]

17. isn't it a comedy show? and it gets a news show award...what planet am

I on?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

18. One where the mainstream media no longer reports the real news...

...and we have to get the real news through other avenues like the "Daily Show" and the Internet.

[Robbien]

19. Yes it is shameful. Even the Russians and Italians are laughing at us

for our "news" reporting, and those guys know their propaganda.

[hatrack]

48. You're on the planet where Katie Couric says that "Navy SEALs Rock!"

You're on the planet where morning network news shows lead off with about ten minutes dedicated to covering the entire planet, followed by an inevitable softening. Maybe a politician might be featured in the second quarter of the hour, but only occasionally. Usually by the time you get to 7:20 or so, it's all about the latest diet, the newest movie, the trendiest drug or the old standby, which celebrity is divorcing/anorexic/alcoholic/addicted/seeking his or her inner child - accompanied, of course, by an in-depth interview of the celebrity in question. After that, it's time for a cooking demonstration, followed by cutting-edge reminders to not leave pets in closed cars in summer (when it's hot) and to bring pets indoors during winter (when it's cold).

You're on the planet where weekend movie grosses are reported on the "news" as items of import and importance. This is the same planet where three, four or five minutes of half-hour broadcasts are dedicated to thinly disguised commercials for the same movies whose box-office totas are breathlessly reported upon release.

You're on the planet where endless hours of Laci Peterson, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jackson clot the broadcast spectrum - and even then it's not even news. Instead, it's an endless series of talking heads speculating - speculating, not reporting - about what this or that juridical twist or turn in the legal events mentioned above might mean.

You're on the planet where big fat chunks of broadcast time are devoted to every little conniption of every little cold front, heat wave, storm cloud, waterspout or hailstorm. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the Weather Channel as much as the next geek, but do we really need endless, breathless and pointless expositions of just exactly what is happening in every corner of the atmosphere?

You're on the planet where local news coverage leads with ten or fifteen minutes of yellow tape news as bodies pile up in abandoned houses, empty lots, downtown streets and on the local interstates. Then comes the parade of suspects, preferably with mug shots and convenience store video footage, then two minutes of regional/state/national news, followed by five minutes of weather and ten minutes of sports. In fact, one local station in the fall where I live devotes a full ten minutes every Friday night to what local high school football teams are doing. This is the same station "Where The News Comes First" according to their slogan, but which airs Nightline at 12:30 AM - after reruns of The Golden Girls, Home Improvement and MASH.

I can't think of a better or more appropriate comment on the current state of broadcast journalism than this.

[qanda]

68. Thanks for describing the planet I'm on with great detail

eom

[melbel8301]

70. Excellent analysis

This is truly the state of American journalism these days. And we, the public, are not well served by our media.

[Robbien]

72. Great summary. When Leno did a skit asking the man on the street

who the Vice President was, only one of the seven could come up with his name.

I thought at the time that Leno just did great editing to make his skit funny. After reading your summary of what the news really is, now it is surprising that the one person got it right.

[Rob H.]

75. Don't forget...

This is just a tiny bit off-topic, but we also live on a planet where, in order to find out what's really going on in the U.S., we have to seek out reporting from other countries' newspapers! (The Guardian UK is among the best I've seen in that regard.)

As comedian David Cross said (paraphrased, because I can't remember it verbatim), "There are people in other countries who're jailed for saying, 'I'd like to have more papers to read,' but we live in a country where we have access to the news, and nobody wants it!"

[misanthrope]

96. In America...

...the state doesn't prosecute you for exercising your freedom of speech, but they don't protect you either. There's no need for incarceration when society deprives you of the means to support yourself, and you're branded a pariah.

Why waste the money on locking someone up when they can just watch them starve to death instead? After all, even a jailed man makes more noise than a dead one.

[tom_paine]

98. Well said, hatrack!

[Kinkistyle]

20. Thats right. Risking reporters lives for biased news.

Why is it that your reporters are risking their lives yet the news that they get, like dead soldiers and the plight of Iraqis is never shown on your channel. Oh yeah, thats right, because you cow to a corrupt Administration.

The Daily Show does not. Michael Moore does not, and thats why they deserve awards.

Oh and the fact that you are risking reporters lives for news that is not even as accurate as a "fake" news show is just incredibly damning evidence of how low network news has sunk.

[Tuttle]

88. Risking lives....

I live in Oxford CT where Otilie Lundgren died from exposure to inhalation anthrax, while Bush and his evil cronies took cipro (pre-emptively). Bastards!

Jon Stewart, Michael Moore, Linda Ronstadt and the Dixie Chicks are all risking their lives. Maybe that is why they deserve awards!

I'm all for giving awards to anyone who opposes whistle-ass Bush - even Whoopi Goldberg!

Tut-tut

[union_maid]

21. The Daily Show is a real news analyis show despite itself

It's not news and it's not as fake as they say it is. It may be satire, but it features real interviews and real questions. The latter is more than the rest of the news media has brought us. You can send all the correspondents you want out in the field, but if you're not going to bring us real news it's all for nothing. They should take this award as a challenge rather than whine about it.

[Generator]

84. Oh so true

Doesn't one real question not asked by any other media source of great importance trump a dozen worthless ones that we've heard over and over?

Besides, the biggest thing is (that I haven't seen hear among all the excellent replies) Jon Stewart doesn't take any shit. He's not beholden to anybody and it shows. It's so refreshing.

[Hekate]

23. US news broadcasts with few exceptions are almost unbearable

these days. Think I'll send this to Mr. Heyward to help him understand why Jon Stewart deserves the award.

Dear Mr. Heyward:

Where are the facts indeed? Where is there anyone besides octogenarian Helen Thomas with the guts to ask real questions in the so-called press conferences at the WH? Where is there anyone of her fellow journalists to stand up in those same press conferences and object to the treatment she has been given there?

I hear it’s about "access" being cut off, but I ask you, what good is access to a steno pool where you record whatever is said no matter how questionable?

Why do reporters all over the broadcast system not follow up on staggering inconsistencies in the statements coming from every level of the Bush administration?

Excuse me, Mr. Heyward: Jon Stewart, anchorman of a FAKE news program, does these things on a nightly basis. Yeah, Monday through Thursday on the Comedy Channel. Look for the listing.

One more thing that has been troubling me a lot recently:

The way the Bush administration and its apologists in the media have acted shocked, shocked I tell you, that the information about Iraq's WMD was wrong wrong wrong.

Furthermore we, the listening audience, are being assured over and over and over again by both Bushies and "news" media that NO ONE KNEW THIS LAST YEAR AND NO ONE SUSPECTED.

Please, don't let me interrupt your vast echo-chamber from the Ministry of Truth, but starting in the fall of 2002 I personally participated in peace marches, town hall meetings, letter-writing campaigns, candlelight vigils, and every other sort of peaceful action in an effort to get the word out. For several months I wondered if my smallish city was the only one doing this because of the silence in the media, until finally I went online and started seeing photos of vast crowds of protestors in major cities right here in my own country, smaller numbers in smaller locales. (When I read online that the Washington Post first reported "hundreds" of protestors showed up, people who were actually there posted photographs of streets filled for many blocks around. E-mails to the Washington Post made them gradually revise their estimates upward to "tens of thousands.")

By some estimates -- from online journalists, thank you -- there were a million people in this country who took to the streets at various times in 2003-2003 because we felt strongly enough that we were not being told the truth about the case for invading Iraq. Around the world, as many as ten million.

Who told us? Oh well, many of us reported in to lists and discussion boards, and I guess some folks must have taken the trouble to add. It's not that hard: in my town we had volunteers counting rows from the sidewalk: so many people per row, so many rows per block, so many blocks filled with earnest citizens. The helicopters overhead in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco -- I'm sure somebody up there had a pretty good idea how many of us were not buying the party line. You and your cohorts could have done that, too, if you hadn't been so busy simply repeating what you were told by members of the Bush Administration.

And yet...the Bush White House recentlsaid NO ONE KNEW and almost all the television news media reported this as fact. That was repeated until the Bush White House was ready to start claiming again that there REALLY, TRULY IS and WAS a connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq and once again the majority of the tv news media simply reports this as fact.

I still usually watch the early news -- but sometimes I wonder if I can possibly be hearing what I'm hearing, and it's a relief to tune in to Jon Stewart at 11:00 p.m. and watch him deliver the fake news that's actually pretty real. My favorite, aside from the way he rubs his eyes when it's all just too egregious, is the way he takes the pronouncement of the day and then plays dated clips of the same person (Bush, Rice, Powell, Rumsfeld, whoever) saying the exact opposite over and over and over, building up to the climactic: "Whatever made you believe that?"

See, I don't expect to see Dan Rather or Peter Jennings or Aaron Brown rubbing their eyes in mock disbelief -- but how hard could it possibly be for people with your resources to play those little dated clips of utterly contradictory statements?

Because, Mr. Heyward, people ARE dying. We know that. Many of us tried to stop it:
Before Afghanistan was virtually abandoned to the warlords and poppy farmers, the burka-enforcers and fake Special Ops men with their nifty private torture chambers. Abandoned to pursue oil in Iraq when Dr. Hans Blix and the other weapons inspectors kept saying there were no WMDs found in Iraq. Saudi Arabia -- origin of nearly all of the 9-11 hijackers -- got off scot free, Afghanistan is heard of no more, and the world was treated to the spectacle of US tanks guarding the Oil Ministry and standing by when the incomparable cultural treasures of the Baghdad museum and library were looted.

Yeah, people are dying: most of our military fallen are young enough to be my son or daughter. They are young and strong and brave, they are going where their country told them to go and doing the best they can. They want to serve their country -- and they come from places where schools are being defunded and jobs outsourced...

If I hear one more word about Michael Jackson or Scot Peterson passed off as news I may throw up. The thing about Jon Stewart is: he knows when he's being silly, yet somehow in his first ten minutes, he usually manages to convey -- albeit satirically -- something serious.

Hekate
got kind of carried away; have to go to sleep now

[UpInArms]

33. well said!

:toast:

[Robbien]

34. Such a great letter

Wish Heywood would actually read it and take action.

Thanks.

[liberalmuse]

52. Please send it!

Send it for all of us who can't string a sentence together to save our lives.

Another great thread on DU brought to you by The Daily Show...

[ewagner]

54. Bravo!!!!

What a great letter!

:toast:

[Athame]

56. WWWooooooooHHHooooooo!! Hekate!

GREAT rant! :thumbsup:

Send it as an open letter to the NYT or someplace where a LOT more people will read this.

:kick: :bounce: :kick: :bounce: :kick:

[TeeYiYi]

65. Wow. What a great letter. . .

. . . THANKS Hekate. You said a mouthful. I felt the emotion and the anger well up when you reminded me of the people in the streets counting rows and reporting online. The photos you speak of are some of the most powerful historic documents of our time. Rummy may be able to confiscate cameras from the soldiers in Iraq but he can't have mine, nor can he touch the passion of a generation of disenfranchised people in search of honesty. Truth and freedom in this country post 9/11 really is a grassroots effort. Please tell me you sent that to Mr. Heyward. If you didn't, please tell me that you will.

TYY:hi:

[Generator]

85. Steno pool! Love it love it

That's it. For you young ones, that's like being nothing but a recorder. A machine that copies what your masters tell you. And the only answer I come up with for wanting to be a steno pool? The money and the prestige. Let's take the prestige away and call them for what they are.

Lackeys to power with nice haircuts.

[Hekate]

95. I e-mailed it to CBS--don't know if it will get to him

Added a few things, hope I caught the typos I just saw now in this version! (I was tired--what possesses me to stay up all night? oh yeah, reading DU!) What I think I will do is hard-mail him a copy at CBS ... and thanks for the suggestion to send it out as an "open letter."

And (my blushes) thanks to you all for the kind words.

Hekate

[calico1]

28. The Daily Show is satire

and commentary for the most part. However, Jon Stewart has no problem asking direct, non sugar coated questions. The same kinds of questions that journalists USED to ask. If the award was given to him as a slap in the face to so called "real" journalists then so be it. They need to get the message that they are not doing their job. They haven't been for a while. While the main news networks either give news that heavily favors the GOP or gives fluff news like Brittany Spear's or J-Lo's latest marriage when major news events are getting ignored, Jon Stewart is asking hard questions of the likes of Wolf Blitzer such as "why hasn't anyone been fired?" when referring to the 9-11 Commission report. No other journalist asked anyone this question. So I say bravo for the award to Jon Stewart. The "real" reporters need to get their head out of the butts of the corporations and the GOP and do their job. Until they do, they do not deserve any kind of awards or recognition.

[Corgigal]

30. While it's true

that Jon Stewart is the best another person who can ask the real questions is David Letterman. It's frighting that we only now have professional comedians attempting to get us useful information but thank goodness someone is.

[Longhorn]

39. Is it true that Letterman has come around?

It seemed to me that after 9/11, both he and Leno refused to say anything critical of the Bush administration, to the point where I couldn't stand to watch either of them any more. Letterman had always been less of a Bush cheerleader than Leno, who was still telling Clinton jokes the last I checked in! Should I give Letterman another try?

[Robbien]

40. When CNN and the WH messed with him on the Yawning Boy story

It seemed as if Letterman said enough. Every day there seems to be something in his show shining a light on BushCo. Last night the top 10 list was about the movie "I Robot", the number one on the list was "let Cheney run the country for a while, I am busy watching the movie".

[baldguy]

32. Maybe Haywood should get a program that actually presents the news.

How many CBS reporters are investigating Cheney's incestuous relationship with oil companies?

How many CBS reporters does he have learning about the extent torture is used by American armed forces around the world?

How many CBS reporters are on the Plame investigation?

And, once the truth is known, will these reporters be allowed by CBS news editors to present it to the public?

=====

The fact is the major news organizations are not doing their job - keeping the public informed - and therefore do not DESERVE any kind of award. The Daily Show IS DOING JUST THAT - all the while providing entertainment as well. The only problem I see is that TDS - as a news program - doesn't have the resources to study any of these issues in depth. CBS, NBC, ABC & CNN do. But for some reason they don't. That's why a COMEDY show won a NEWS award.

[wellst0nev0ter]

38. Don't Worry, You'll Get The Hard-Hitting, Skeptical News Coverage

you want . . . right after John Kerry gets elected :eyes:

[rocktivity]

35. The Daily Show IS the best news and information program!

He IS doing the news better than anyone else! People may be risking their lives to deliver news from Iraq, but it damn sure isn't being delivered to us! Maybe CBS thinks they should have won because of the Abu Grahib pictures. If they hadn't agreed to sit on them for two weeks, I'd agree. I think this is another manifestation of the "F9/11 effect." Why should anyone be rewarded for taking stenography directly from the White House?

:headbang:
rocknation

[MrTriumph]

37. Dan Rather: "I trust the president". CBS should have fired him.

Hey, CBS, we remember after 9-11 when Dan Rather made the talk shows and in his best anchorman tone said "I trust the president". And those news shows that weren't already in lockstep with the administration got the message: watch what you say.

Well, it wasn't then and isn't now the, proper for any newsman to "trust the president". Rather should have been fired.

Oh, and about the president. Has he proven trustworthy?

[rocktivity]

43. Check out this article form the Seattle Times

(link)

...(T)his year's prize for outstanding news and information programming (went) to Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" — vaulting it over rivals like PBS' "Frontline" and ABC's "Nightline."

It was a decision made on both merit and message. As...(the award presenter)...said...at a time when the mainstream media seem cowed, Jon Stewart and company embody "a core of truth."

Did you catch that, Mr. Heyward? A core of TRUTH, not a core of "making sure George Bush looks good no matter what so he'll throw favorable legislation our way"!

:headbang:
rocknation

[Philostopher]

50. They seem to miss the fact,

and so have some of the posters in this thread, that what The Daily Show really amounts to is in-depth analysis, something we don't get from the networks and the 'respected straight-news organizations' anymore. They spout the talking points, as Jon pointed out last week, and while many of them ask the first question, they never ask the second question!

Mr. Nownow and I heard an Andrei Codrescu commentary on NPR last night where he proposed a news channel: 'The Followup Channel.' Essentially, he said it disturbed him that the only time any real news was reported was when the story was 'hot,' and that you never got any further exposition down the road, or any analysis. Regardless of the fact it's presented as a humor show, TDS actually makes an effort to follow up on some of these stories that cease to be 'hot' -- they go to the trouble to keep the stories on the back burner and ask the 'second question' a week or two later, which CNN, CBS, NBC, etc. no longer bother to do because it doesn't sell diapers or cruises.

[lostnfound]

45. Satire of TDS is great, but why not DemocracyNow! as a serious choice?

It's not just radio, it's TV. Carried on Free Speech TV.

[Jane Austin]

47. What makes the Daily Show "news" is the simple technique

of letting the newsmakers talk.

Yes, Stewart's mugging is hilarious, and yes he cherry-picks the clips they're going to use, but selecting the most egregious public statements is not a bad way to show us what's going on.

By juxtaposing an old statement on a new one, or using eight clips from one speech that say the same thing - - "Amurica is safe," his show let's the news speak for itself.

This is something Judy WoofWoof and Wolf Blitzer could learn from.

[tom_paine]

99. Whoredruff and Blitzer AREN'T INTERESTED in learning a thing!

They are onterested in gettikng their Bushevik Spin Points out and Laundering Bushevik Lies.

Is it laziness or arrogance of the Cocktail Party Variety or something more sinister.

I don't know and I'm not sure I want to know.

[aden_nak]

53. A few words for Andrew Heyward.

"There are people around the world who literally now are risking their lives, risking death to bring back today's story from Iraq."

Yeah, Andrew, but for the past two years they've been ignoring the NEWS altogether. They have been little more than a cheerleading squad. If there is an award for "Best Propaganda and Disniformation Program", then you might qualify. . . though don't expect to beat out Fox News.

You want recognition? How about practicing fucking journalism?

[Rob H.]

73. Love it!

"You want recognition? How about practicing fucking journalism?"

Exactly!

[Mr_Charlie]

55. For chrissakes, satire is not news...it's commentary!

I'm not about to start calling Rush or O'leilly news programs, which means I can't really call the Daily Show or SNL ones either, without being a hypocrite.

[Logansquare]

64. O'Reilly Factor has been a past nominee for this award

as has Frontline. It's called the Outstanding Achievement in News and Information award, not the Outstanding Achievement in Bland Talking Heads Award.

[Ms. Clio]

71. Bingo! n/t

[ewagner]

57. How many times.........

Have members of DU lamented that the only way to get REAL news was from a COMEDY show?

The truth that TDS provides has been the only source of sanity during this whole misadministration. Yes, it's true. They do it in the name of comedy but it is equally true that they let the truth speak for itself.

Congrats to TDS.

I hope the "Real" News programs get the message.

[TahitiNut]

58. It's simple. A 'news' program that reports on what a politician "THINKS"

... is nothing but a bullshit propaganda broker. Each and every cable "news" outlet, talking head, and anchorperson regurgitates the Mighty Wurlitzer's pretentious aspersions and claims about the "THOUGHTS" of politicians - except the Daily Show.

DimSon or one of his mouthpieces slithers in front of some camera and proclaims a "belief" and the Big Brother Public Relations Industry dutifully echoes the tripe about what "the President (sic) believes ..." Horseshit! If they can't even distinguish between what he "said" and some pretense of mind-reading, they're so far from 'reporting' that the Old Farmer's Almanac might as well be the Congressional Record.

Pay close attention to their use of the verbs (and their conjugations) "believes," "intends," "thinks," "claims," "wants," "knows," and the more truthful "says," ... and it's appalling how much right-wing bias is embedded in the (so-called) "news." When combined with the excessive use of passive voice, and we've got a propaganda industry that would awe Josef Goebbels .

Then, when these pretentious prognosticators abandon "news" and embark upon the crystal-ball-gazing promotion of future events, their bankruptcy becomes even clearer. The corruption is virtually complete - and the emotionally healthy response is to laugh at them as a way of relieving the sheer horror of how decayed and corrupted we've become.

[bloom]

59. they may be "Fake"

but they make better points than most "news" programs.

I suppose it would be harder to "mock" the regular news if they actually had news.

[Ms. Clio]

60. Risking their lives?

Give me an ever lovin break--most of the "journalists" in Baghdad never leave their hotel. The only real journalist in Iraq who has truly risked his life lately was Paul McGeough, the reporter who broke the story that Allawi personally executed 6 prisoners in cold blood, and then had to leave the country to avoid retribution.

[xxqqqzme]

66. wow, this was actually reported?

McGeough reports for which network?

Can U guess I get my news from the internet?

[Ms. Clio]

69. He writes for the Sydney Morning Herald

I get almost all my news from the Web, too, except for Democracy Now, INN, and Mosaic.

Updated to add: and The Daily Show, of course!

[alfredo]

61. Unlike Fox, Stewart admits it eom

[sadiesworld]

62. Until Sibel Edmonds and PNAC...

are more familiar to Americans than Laci Peterson and color-coded terror alerts, we have The Daily Show.

Thanks Jon & Crew.

:toast:

[On the Road]

63. Two Reasons The Daily Show Should Have Won

1) Jon Stewart is the only one who FRAMES the news in a skeptical and realistic way -- even if it's presented as a joke. This is one of the fundamentals of journalism, and I'm sorry, but no one else is doing it.

2) Jon's presentation GALVANIZES his listeners and makes them react viscerally. This is especially important for younger apolitical listeners. This is one of the most important things a news program can do. Most news is as boring as a school textbook.

[SoCalDem]

78. He's not an "old guy"... You would think he would have figured it out.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/11/21/broadcasts/main530323.shtml

[Jacobin]

79. AWESOME

The CBS president should hang his head in shame and either start DEMANDING that his network present real news, or if he's not allowed to do so by the board, RESIGN in protest.

At that point, I would have some respect for him. Until then, he's just a highly paid shill for the junta.

[SoCalDem]

80. Dear Andrew:

July 20, 2004

Mr. Andrew Heyward
President
CBS News
524 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019




Dear Mr. Heyward,

I understand that you are "unhappy", and "surprised" that The Daily Show won an award for news presentation...

There are a few things that you may not have realized about your "audience". The big-bucks you pay your focus groups, market researchers, poll takers, etc, are wasted, because you and your company have missed the most important thing... TRUTH...

It does not take a genius to figure out that what we get now-a-days is NOT news... It's "infotainment". We do not turn to the CBS Nightly news to be "entertained". We want to know what happened today... That's ALL we need... We do not want our news "spun" or "sanitized-for-our-protection".

To be fair, I must say that of all the current prompter readers, Dan Rather has started to tell a bit more truth. We realize that 'some' administrations are petty, vindictive and secretive, but that should be no reason for you and your news organization to capitulate and take your news report right from their faxes.

The fact that some 'journalists' are risking their lives in Iraq is very sad... To die for a lie is always a sad thing. They DO have one distinction though...They went for personal gain, fame, accolades, and maybe a book deal when they return. The soldiers, who went, have no such "treats" waiting for them.

The "in-bedding" (not a spelling error) of journalists was an especially egregious error on your part. The REAL story had you chosen to report it, was the fact that the military was so "eager" to accommodate the media... THAT was the story. It does not take a wild leap of imagination to know that "reporters", who were "suited up and encamped" with the same people who would protect their lives, would write glowing reports of their bravery and success.

CNN used to be the place to go for news... Why?? It was because they were "the fly on the wall", and we saw events unfolding, with little commentary. It is indeed sad, that instead of holding onto their principles ,even they have descended into the glitzy Fox-ified slimy journalism, like everyone else.

Those of us with satellite TV have left you and the rest in the dust, because we have found other, more credible sources for news. Example: This administration is the least respected worldwide, of ANY in hundreds of years. How do I know this? Not because I read US papers or listen/watch US networks. I go to the SOURCE... Foreign news. To read a paper here, or watch a broadcast, we would have to assume that because Afghan and Iraqi girls have pencils, all is right with the world...and that during protests here, even though an overhead shot showed that they filled the mall, "a few hundred" "anarchists and troublemakers" marched ....spin-spin-spin..

We were attacked on 9/11 , in some part, because you and your fellow news people have seen "trials of the century", shark attacks, missing blonde girls, feuding teenage divas, car chases, diet gurus, movie star shenanigans, and assorted other "fluff", as more important then NEWS , and have spoon-fed that trash to the citizens, instead of facts that we needed to know.

Globalization/consolidation of media had made it a very ugly situation. We, the public, GAVE you our public airwaves, in exchange for the obligation BY you, to inform us of the important happenings in our world. Instead of fulfilling your obligation, you and yours, TOOK those airwaves, and turned them into a cash-cow for yourselves and to HELL with us. There used to be investigative journalism, but that seems to have vanished. It's hard to investigate when the eventual target may be someone who controls the purse-strings of your own network. There is enough corruption and political evil to last a lifetime, if only some network were brave enough to dig into it. We won't hold our breath... Self-preservation and greed will win out, and we know it.


Your advertisers and corporate masters certainly have total control (even if only implied); over what you report, and more and more of us are realizing this... Notice your ratings/share dropping over the years?? Hmmm?

The Daily Show tells it like it is, and that is why it won and you didn't. They deserve to be recognized because they have than audacity to tell the truth and expose the nonsense the rest of you are serving up to us daily. Instead of getting your panties in a wad, because you were overlooked, perhaps a better tack would be to watch Jon Stewart... watch and learn.

A former viewer

xxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Generator]

86. Enjoyed your letter

especially "instead of the facts we need to know". It's so true and so sad that the majority in this country are so easily manipulated. We have such little understanding of the rest of the world, while being a country that's always affecting and risking so much in it.

And the "truth". There are facts in this world. They exist. Not everthing can be reduced to the political. It's not just spin. This view is partly what makes Americans so cynical. There either were weapons in Iraq or there weren't. The President either claimed that was the rational for the war or he didn't. Give me some facts. Otherwise you are in league with the propagandists.

[0rganism]

87. Wow, that's another helluva letter!

If you and Hekate get any responses from Heyward's office, I'd sure like to see 'em posted. They have a lot to answer for -- altho CBS has been, in some ways, the least egregious of the network newswhores.

[Robbien]

90. There are some truly amazing posts in this thread.

And your letter is one of them, a pure gem!

[Gloria]

89. Jon also nailed Isikoff last week....in the discussion about cancelling

the election....Jon brought up how it seemed TPTB want to ensure a certain outcome....Isikoff brought up the Spanish election, but neglected to talk about the gov. lie about ETTA. Jon did and commented about how 98% of the electorate was against the Iraq war AND didn't like being lied to about who did the bombing....

OOPS...Isikoff was caught with his pants down on that one.

Jon is not only taking on the Bush crew, but also the media's complicity in protecting them....He's my hero..............

[stanwyck]

93. Izzy apparently

thought he was dealing with the usual empty-headed network types who swallow whatever swill the Bushies are serving up. And Jon doesn't. Good catch, Gloria. We kept hearing how Spain buckled under to pressure from terrorists. But the real story was how they'd been lied to about the Basque separatists being responsible and how soft the support was for sending troops into Iraq. Jon reads. I don't think the network folks are keeping up. They're spending too much time on their botox and highlights to know the issues.

[Emillereid]

92. It IS the best news show on TV -- it's the ONLY TV news I watch! It's the

only one I can count on to tell the truth!

[tom_paine]

97. A fitting statement and award that recognizes a simple truth

In Totalitarian Nations like Imperial Amerika (even a new "kinder and genlter" Totalitarianism like Bush/Putin "Managed Democracy") ONLY comedians are allowed to tell the truth.