Fox:Late-Night Leaning?

[underpants]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,126226,00.html

There is no small amount of political humor mixed with the late-night gags these days. And since many Americans rely on Leno, Letterman, O'Brien and Stewart for their news instead of Brokaw, Jennings and Rather, the question of bias is no laughing matter.

Thompson said even overtly political comedians, such as CNBC's right-leaning Dennis Miller (search), put laughs above ideology. That, Thompson said, is not only because their careers depend on getting the most laughs, but also because they don't want to risk losing their iconoclastic image.

Late-night hosts have to poke fun at familiar issues and personalities — otherwise the punch line would be lost, he said.

That may explain why there have been more than twice as many late-night jokes about President Bush than rival John Kerry — 555 about Bush this year, compared to 202 about Kerry, according to the Center for Media and Public Affairs. It's because the audience doesn't know enough about Kerry yet.

According to the CPMA, however, the comics may have let slip a slant: According to their numbers, Republicans were targeted in 62 percent of late-night political jokes, while Democrats were targeted in 38 percent between 1988 and 2000.

[papau]

1. Bull - Leno does gentle Bush is stupid, then down and dirty Kerry is evil

Even Letterman has an overabundance of anti-Kerry jokes.

I wonder how these folks "count"

Oh, This is Fox - so the answer or fact is given by Murdoch/Roger Ailes and the "experts" then explain why it is true. I forgot the system for a moment.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. You hit the nail on the head

It's not just the quantity, it's the content of the jokes.