Online Poll: Jon Stewart Is America's Most Trusted Newsman

[CatWoman]

Well, in a result that he will probably accept as downright apocalyptic for America, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart has been selected, in an online poll conducted by Time Magazine, as America's Most Trusted Newscaster, post-Cronkite. Matched up against Brian Williams, Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson, Stewart prevailed with 44 percent of the vote. Now, if we're being honest, he probably managed to prevail as the winner precisely because he was the odd man out in a field of network news anchors. Nevertheless, I think Jim Cramer should feel free to SNACK ON THAT.

Brian Williams drew the second largest percentage of votes, with 29 percent. Gibson and Couric finished third and fourth, respectively, with 19 and 7 percent of the vote.

Time has helpfully broken out the results, state-by-state, so if you want to muse on some anomalous results, feel free. Brian Williams won Arizona, Wyoming, Nebraska, North Dakota, Florida, South Carolina, Indiana, Delaware and Vermont, and tied in Kentucky and Alaska. Charlie Gibson was big in Tennessee and Montana. Katie Couric pulled off the Mondalian feat of winning one state: Iowa.

Stewart finished no lower than second place in all states, except, curiously, Vermont.

To view the results, click here. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/22/time-magazine-poll-jon-st_n_242933.html

[wtbymark]

1. Vermonters have their own kind of comedy

They're an odd sect, I know, I was one for a long long time

"ya cant get der from der" decifer that one and you're half way to being a Vermonter. lol

[NightWatcher]

2. yay, news from comedians....Cronkite is just a spinnin in his grave

he stood for journalistic integrity, now we should turn to Comedy Central???

[JitterbugPerfume]

3. I love Jon Stewart

and I watch him every night he is on , but I find this disturbing somehow.

[Desertrose]

4. I don't find this surprising really....

Jon will go after his guests to get to the truth of things. Do the network talking heads do that anymore...or do they just about always follow the most expedient corporate view?

I haven't seen any of these news anchors act with the integrity of Walter Cronkite in many many years.I agree Stewart comes closest most of the time.

[peacetalksforall]

5. Jon Stewart, a comedian, the most trusted newsman. Only in America.

Thanks goodness for Jon and all those who recognized his talent and gave him opportunities to get where he is. Our most trusted newsman and at the top comedian.

[rocktivity]

6. A perfect reason to ressurect Plaid Adder's brilliant dissertation on Stewart

(link)
"The 1/2 Hour News Hour" is at a major disadvantage, compared to The Daily Show, because it cannot really use the format...(P)art of what keeps The Daily Show fresh is the fact that it keeps finding new ways to identify, mock, and exploit the absurdities of cable news itself. My current favorite is Stewart's "Meet me at camera three" segments, which exploit a convention that on 'straight' news shows is just a trick to create the illusion of change and development by shooting the same bullshit from a new angle. On The Daily Show, moving to camera three actually takes the show to a new place, where, magically, Stewart can directly address whatever powerful figure he's taking on in an intimate and often surprisingly raw confrontation. "The 1/2 Hour News Hour" restricts itself to treating the format as a platter on which to serve up a bunch of punch lines.

To which I added a somewhat worthy rejoiner:
...I've come to realize that when Stewart and Colbert claim to be in the fake news business, they're faking. The method in their madness is that they simply point out how fake the REAL news is. Last night's TDS (featured a)...segment about how CNN turned...Anna Nicole Smith's..."Fridge of Death" into an investigation of the contents of the CNN break room's refrigerator, followed by a segment on a group who likes to swim in the northern Atlantic (in the winter)...The story that's supposed to be "real" news feels fake; the story that sounds like it must be fake is real. And THAT'S why we laugh--even when it's the Dems who get skewered...

P.S. What, no Olbermann?

:headbang:
rocktivity

[Initech]

7. Fake news >>>>>>>>>> real news

I love Stewart's take down of the public opinion channels (to call them "news networks" is an abomination) and their brain-dead commentators. His smackdown of Jim Cramer was a work of art.

And I love Stephen Colbert and his interviews and segments. The WØRD is brilliant, so is the Threatdown and so is the "Better Know A _________".

[Mythsaje]

8. Love The Word... especially the comments on-screen...

My favorite part of Colbert's show.

[corkhead]

9. Too bad it isn't a true scientific poll, but it is stil worthy of a hearty LOL!!

[applegrove]

10. I'm glad Americans see the news networks for what they are. Corporations

and the people who work for them are always vulnerable to the koolaide and the more people who see that the better.

[Echo In Light]

11. Their personal views needn't matter since they're fulfilling a role for $

[HOLOS]

12. k&R

[Clear Blue Sky]

13. I thought he was a comedian, not a newsman.