NYT: Jon Stewart’s Punching Bag, Fox News

[babylonsister]

Jon Stewart’s Punching Bag, Fox News


By BRIAN STELTER
Published: April 23, 2010


George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are long gone. Fox News Channel is Jon Stewart’s new enemy No. 1.

Last week that comedian did something that the hosts of “Fox & Friends,” the morning show on Fox News, did not do: he had his staff members call the White House and ask a question.

It may have been in pursuit of farce, not fact, but it gave credence to the people who say “The Daily Show” is journalistic, not just satiric. “Fox & Friends” had repeatedly asked whether the crescent-shaped logo of the nuclear security summit was an “Islamic image,” one selected by President Obama in his outreach to the Muslim world. The White House told “The Daily Show” that the logo was actually based on the Rutherford-Bohr model of the atom.

“This is how relentless Fox is” in savaging President Obama, Mr. Stewart said.

On the subject of Fox, Mr. Stewart is pretty relentless too. As demonstrated by that crescent segment and dozens of others since Mr. Obama took office, he may well be television’s pre-eminent fact-checker of Fox News, the nation’s highest-rated cable news channel.

snip//

The segments about Fox are often replayed hundreds of thousands of times on blogs and other Web sites, amplifying their significance. “Media criticism has become part of his brand,” said Mark Jurkowitz, the associate director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, who noted that Mr. Stewart had also dissected CNN and CNBC in lengthy segments in the past.

It is true that the often-left-leaning “Daily Show” deals with a wide array of topics, but Fox is one that Mr. Stewart is overtly passionate about; he said on the show this week that he criticizes the network a lot because it is “truly a terrible, cynical, disingenuous news organization.”


more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/arts/television/24stewart.html

[CTLawGuy]

1. this is just depressing

"Fox News, the nation’s highest-rated cable news channel."

[Cha]

3. They still don't want to be "fact checked" by Jon Stewart..

shining a light on their cockroach infested station.

[Botany]

2. " .... Fox News, the nation’s highest-rated cable news channel."

It might be highly rated but it sure isn't news.

I loves me some Jon Stewart

[live love laugh]

4. Yeah that caught my eye too and I doubt that the NYT checked this "fact." nt

[babylonsister]

6. You will hate this, but it's true...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_News_Channel

snip//


In the third week of January 2010, Fox News was the highest rated basic cable channel in primetime. This marked the first time that a news network led the primetime ratings, beating out entertainment networks such as ABC, NBC, and CBS.<40> Also in January 2010, Public Policy Polling reported that Fox News was the most trusted television news network in the country with 49% of respondents stating they trust Fox News.<41>. Fox also scored the lowest level of distrust with only 37%, and was the only network to score a net positive in that regard, with a +12%. CNN scored second in the poll with 39% of those polled stating that they trusted the network, and 41% stating distrust, a -2% net score.<42>

[saulmart]

5. Keep on punching, Jonny Boy!

K&R

[HughMoran]

7. 77 recs

:D

[Hekate]

8. Kick and Rec for one of the few bright spots in the vast tv wasteland.

:fistbump: for Jon Stewart!

Hekate

[BlooInBloo]

9. NYT journalist can't understand why on earth a satirist would have an interest in the truth.

Gawd what a stupid fucking country we are.

[Jennicut]

10. Here is a vid of Jon Stewart, it is hilarious. America's Shape Wars!

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201004150001

[Arkana]

11. Fox doesn't want to be fact-checked by Jon Stewart

because Stewart doesn't have any obligation to present the facts in one light or another--he hosts a comedy news show he can say and do whatever the hell he wants. It's to his credit that he thrashes Fox News at every opportunity, because they deserve it.

Hell, TDS is more informative than any cable news show I can think of.

[fishwax]

12. It's hard to imagine what these last several years would have been like w/o Jon Stewart