The Political Persuasion of The Daily Show (Part 2)

A classmate stated, "I can definitely agree that he [Stewart] does not have a political agenda, because he spent the majority of his time making a mockery of politicians."  That declarative statement begs for critical analysis:   Are you sure that he does not have a political agenda, despite the fact that he mocks politicians? To answer that question with a degree of veracity requires some study to establish a trend. Watching the show one day probably does not give adequate exposure to the content to declare that he either does have a political agenda or he has no bias. What I would suggest is that to rule out the possibility of a clear bias or to establish the slant of his bias, if any, a quantifying study of content would be needed.

A study of this type would consider the political party of all guests who were politicians and all stories focusing on politicians. It would need to be conducted over a period of time, perhaps a month or a season of the show. Maybe Jon Stewart was a bit grouchy one day, and his sarcasm was over-the-top on that occasion. To rule out things like the influence of mood (since Jon Stewart is human and subject to human nature), the study would need to compile this information over an extended period of time, not a single day.

Even one day can help to make a somewhat informed decision in search of a political agenda for the purpose of discussion, but lacks credibility because of the variability of human condition to which Jon Stewart is subject. However, a single day of viewing lacks the content immersion required to establish a trend that lends credibility to a declarative statement that a TV host is clearly pushing an ideological agenda as a deliberate attempt to indoctrinate the viewers.

After the study is completed, it would be instructive to see quantified results. For instance, if Jon Stewart picks on Republicans like Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, Haley Barbour, and Michelle Bachmann day after day, month after month, but never gives a modicum of equal time to lampooning Democrats like Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, or Nancy Pelosi, can a person say that there is clearly no political agenda because Jon Stewart spent the majority of his time mocking politicians? Does he fairly distribute the mockery among prominent politicians without regard to political affiliation or ideological bent?

To echo a statement from part one of this discussion, the challenge is in judging what constitutes bias. How do a TV host and his viewers collectively establish a centrist perspective that would be completely apolitical? One person’s bias is another person’s reality.

The Political Persuasion of The Daily Show

In my current class focusing on media influence on society, we are discussing sarcasm and irony used by the media as part of healthy political discourse in society. One of the prime examples of irony given by the facilitator is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. This is part of my discussion with the class about that program. What do you think?

From my viewpoint, it is difficult to dispute the fact that Jon Stewart does have a political bias. I don’t really have a problem with it, because the bias seems clear to me and I can filter my perceptions about the show using my acknowledgement that the program is partisan. On the other hand, it is a comedy show and uses satire and irony for entertainment. The show routinely exaggerates for comedic purposes so I don’t blame the producers and Stewart for creating that bias. The tongue-in-cheek nature of that comedic exaggeration is sometimes evident when you see that Jon Stewart is trying to stifle a grin. The same thing was obvious on the Weekend Update segments with Norm MacDonald. MacDonald's exaggeration was sometimes so over-the-top that it was clear that he was ready to bust a gut laughing at himself and the irony of the stories.

When I read in interviews that Jon Stewart has no political agenda in doing the show, I understand. I believe that he thinks he applies no bias. However, since bias is a subjective perception of self, what may seem nonexistent to him may seem clear to the viewer. The difficulty in judging partiality is that both the host and the viewer have to acknowledge subjectivity, because each person is different. When people watch the Daily Show and get annoyed because of the messages that appear to be part of a political agenda, maybe the viewer misses the point that it is comedy and involves satirical humor and irony. The other challenge is in judging what constitutes bias.

How do a TV host and his group of viewers collectively establish one centrist perspective that would be completely nonpartisan or moderate? One person’s bias is another person’s centrist reality.