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.