I liked everything said in the article except for the reference to Jon Stewart as a "gifted clown with wide-ranging curiosity". would agree with everything in it, If the adjective "gifted" were changed to "brilliant".
10
Stewart and Colbert are brilliant and they will be missed. But to really understand their humor you had to already have an awareness of the political issues they poked fun at. Didn't you need to know about Citizens United to understand Colbert's creation of his own Super PAC?
What we really need now is a Walter Cronkite. Someone who can inform us without trying to sway us or reinforce our pre-existing points of view. I'm hoping Lester Holt can grow into that role. He's genial, intelligent and not afraid to ask hard questions. I'm rooting for you Lester!
What we really need now is a Walter Cronkite. Someone who can inform us without trying to sway us or reinforce our pre-existing points of view. I'm hoping Lester Holt can grow into that role. He's genial, intelligent and not afraid to ask hard questions. I'm rooting for you Lester!
12
In pueblo Indian tribes, the Koshare are known as the Sacred Clowns. Their job is to dance during fertility rituals and, in addition to entertaining, act out the foibles of misbehaving tribe members. The effect is to keep the group sane, by pointing out those that were acting otherwise. I will miss Mr. Stewart – our Sacred Clown.
19
With the departure of Stephen Colbert and soon Jon Stewart it is imperative that the "Fairness Doctrine" be reinstated!
10
From a viewer’s perspective, Jon Stewart’s singular aptitude for detecting and explicating the essential nonsense underlying much of the news and especially the political news has been an enormous psychological service. Given the characteristic hyperbole of news stories and the degree to which misrepresentations of facts have become inextricably interwoven into the material, the countervailing arguments presented on the Daily Show are a therapeutic necessity for many of us. The of absence Jon’s acumen and wit to balance the outrageous arguments disseminated by the media will eliminate an important remedy for swallowing the overwhelming amount of folderol that passes as news.
6
"Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and their politicians as a joke." ~ Will Rogers
23
Fox News isn't the only one providing the fish. One just has to look a little harder. Stewart was more than a liberal apologist, he was an obsequious sycophant for the politically correct. Don't get me wrong, the guy was incredibly intelligent and funny, but gutless when it came to the hypocrisy on the left. It just seems that when you use the whole political spectrum, you can have a lot more fun.
4
I'm sick and tired reading grievances about the main stream media for being propaganda machines. What do you expect from these corporate owned news outlets and these so call journalists make living out their pay checks.
Nothing will change unless we have independently owned news media organs and ban the legalized (money donors) corruption in America.
Nothing will change unless we have independently owned news media organs and ban the legalized (money donors) corruption in America.
7
Your best column yet!
2
Make Tim Egan a regular back page columnist!
1
All is not lost.Today's article by Gail Collins re Scott walker is a really good example of responsible Journalism.She writes in a humorous and truthful vein.
We have to demand more from our Media,even though they're receiving contrary demands and support those who are doing their job.
We have to demand more from our Media,even though they're receiving contrary demands and support those who are doing their job.
4
I attended Stewart and Colbert's DC "Rally to Restore Sanity". On that sunny fall day, we all felt bolstered by the sense of unity that a reported 200,000 people turned up, to laugh and feel a sense of purpose. It wasn't all mockery, and bashing of extremism.... it was ultimately a call to get beyond the divisions, and recognize that ordinary Americans are everyday ignoring the divisive boundaries of the extremes, and going about the business of the country, DESPITE our elected officials. Sadly, such positive ideas seem to have faded, victim ennui and the ceaseless onslaught of greed at the top of the economic ladder. Maybe Stewart is simply throwing in the towel... saying... "Hey, I did what i could. It ultimately hasn't mattered much. Now I need to live my life." I think he's entitled. But, what WILL I do now at 11:00 pm?
8
Notice that virtually all humor, especially quality humor, originates from the Left. Same is true for all the creative arts. Musicians , actors, etc. are with rare exception ALL liberals.
It requires a kind of self reflective capacity not generally attributed to the likes of Sarah Palin, Louie Gohmert and their sorry ilk.
The same critical eye that employs humor to the human condition is essential to repairing the human condition. The Right betrays itself as a humorless, ignorant, non-reflective, self indulgent lot, ideationally and morally bankrupt; attempting to once more perpetrate a con job on the low info class confused electorate and get them to vote against their own interests.
With the Right, the packaging may change but the old, tired repeatedly failed policies remain the same. And that is not funny.
It requires a kind of self reflective capacity not generally attributed to the likes of Sarah Palin, Louie Gohmert and their sorry ilk.
The same critical eye that employs humor to the human condition is essential to repairing the human condition. The Right betrays itself as a humorless, ignorant, non-reflective, self indulgent lot, ideationally and morally bankrupt; attempting to once more perpetrate a con job on the low info class confused electorate and get them to vote against their own interests.
With the Right, the packaging may change but the old, tired repeatedly failed policies remain the same. And that is not funny.
20
As a progressive comedian, you show great promise. Not everyone can call entertainers "self reflective" while labeling all who disagree with their politics as "self indulgent." Now, you just need some talent to match your hubris and Hollywood awaits.
4
A perfect take on the American media mass called television. If we could shut it off for a year we would have a saner, better informed country. Instead you can be sure Lindsay Graham will be on some morning show tomorrow calling bombs away.
3
You think he'd never get past the entrance doorway? But I'd vote for him in a minute!
3
Three simple words: Stewart for President!
4
Al Franken is a great Senator and Jon Stewart could be one as well.
11
Stewart to his credit often touched upon the contradictions and fecklessness of the left as he frequently did the right. Neither of those to wings of the political landscape have any sense of humor and are seemingly robotic in the repetition of their respective slogans.
5
Soon it'll all be up to John Oliver.
5
And Larry Wilmore.
7
Jon Stewart is a fierce critic of Fox News for a very simple reason: He is a Leftist with a Leftist agenda (which includes promoting Big Government) while Fox is obviously the opposite. This doesn't take away from his very funny show, which I usually enjoy watching (while I never watch Fox News). For some reason Stewart has always gotten upset when his obvious ideological leanings are pointed out to him. At least Fox is honest about their ideology!
3
Yeah, Fox is honest about their ideology. Right.
11
This opinion, very popular with conservatives, illustrates the fundamental difference in worldviews of left and right. Jon Stewart is a media critic and comedian. His agenda is pointing out the absurd state of journalism today. Fox News is ridiculous, as is CNN (that hated, "liberal" network), which is probably Jon's most frequent target. Comedy works when it skewers the status quo. The agenda is bringing the powerful down a notch. Conservatives always miss this point. Why do you think they're very rarely successful in comedy? Because they see the world as you do, that people are out to get them and they must "balance" it out. In that sense it's conservatives who have the agenda, not liberals. It's a mistake to think that because funny or artistic people tend to be liberal it means there's a problem. Don't worry, you guys have business and finance.
11
They sure are! Unlike Stewart (who pretends not to be a Leftist), they are on the Right, and aren't shy about saying so.
1
Has anyone noticed that when reporting on weather events ( which used to be- hey its going to snow) the headline has become " 90 million people in the path of snow" or "35 million citizens bracing for cold temperatures." As if an apocalypse of biblical proportions is upon us citizens the likes of which the world has never seen. I mean cold and snow are indeed rare events in the northern states during the months of January and February.
7
I noticed that on Brian Williams' NBC Nightly News. Now that he's gone, perhaps that phrase will go away.
However, the focus on snow and other weather events will probably stay because NBC and the Weather Channel are both owned by Comcast.
However, the focus on snow and other weather events will probably stay because NBC and the Weather Channel are both owned by Comcast.
1
I love Jon Stewart. And I love the irony in this story about the great ironist, right there in the second paragraph. There’s an offense the media and even Stewart commit, and it’s always maddening: When citing a Republican atrocity, it is not necessary to summon up a Democratic story to establish bona fides as an unbiased observer. Once and for all, it is not "the same on BOTH sides." For every Republican atrocity, there is not necessarily an equivalent Democratic atrocity to even the score.
Here, we have Lindsay Graham telling any camera he can find that the US needs to be at war wherever we can credibly justify dropping bombs. And as a comparison to that bit of statesmanship, we read that Nancy Pelosi is partisan—really, now—and she's humorless. This shouldn’t have to be said, but the two are not in the same galaxy, never mind equivalent. Besides, her partisanship and sober approach to issues are two of Pelosi’s better qualities.
The next time a Democrat commits an offense worthy of sneers and derision, by all means sneer and deride. And the next time a Republican says or does something outrageous (any minute now), please omit the detestable "fair and balanced" approach that gives cover to miscreants. Keep it real, even though as Colbert observed, reality has a well-known liberal bias.
Here, we have Lindsay Graham telling any camera he can find that the US needs to be at war wherever we can credibly justify dropping bombs. And as a comparison to that bit of statesmanship, we read that Nancy Pelosi is partisan—really, now—and she's humorless. This shouldn’t have to be said, but the two are not in the same galaxy, never mind equivalent. Besides, her partisanship and sober approach to issues are two of Pelosi’s better qualities.
The next time a Democrat commits an offense worthy of sneers and derision, by all means sneer and deride. And the next time a Republican says or does something outrageous (any minute now), please omit the detestable "fair and balanced" approach that gives cover to miscreants. Keep it real, even though as Colbert observed, reality has a well-known liberal bias.
23
Amen, Brother Timothy, amen! There will be no need of roof beam raising for the next occupant of the House of Stewart. The head clearance will be ample.
1
I'm so so sad. Bill Moyers, Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert.... Gail, you're all I have left. Please don't leave.
7
You're basically right, Tim, but Stewart didn't invent the genre. Two words: Mort. Sahl. For investment advice, I'll take Cramer -- everyone hates him, but if you actually watched his show, you'd know that it's not about stock picks; he is, one might almost say, the Jon Stewart of Wall Street, explaining what is really going on from day to day, instead of what the generic financial talking heads like us to think is going on. In 2009, Cramer called the market bottom TO THE DAY. All the way down, he had been explaining what happened and why, and repeating, "No one ever made a dime by panicking." I took his advice, stood pat, and watched my nest egg come all the way back. Without him, I'd have sold at the bottom.
4
You make references to President Obama's "regular failures" and say that he did not keep promises to the veterans. What promises?
This is a great article but by casually noting that the President didn't keep promises, neither Obama nor his supporters can defend themselves. Not everyone stays up late or DVR's Jon Stewart, although after watching one show, it seems like I indeed was missing a treasure.
This is a great article but by casually noting that the President didn't keep promises, neither Obama nor his supporters can defend themselves. Not everyone stays up late or DVR's Jon Stewart, although after watching one show, it seems like I indeed was missing a treasure.
2
What I mean here is that Egan needs to elaborate on what promises the President made to veterans which constitutes a "regular failure" of Obama's.
Our elite court jester has a formidable talent to skewer the frauds we elect into office and who betray us in everything they do and say. He remains the most formidable and irreplaceable conscience in America who dares to say what others can only quietly think in moments of despair that our craziness will never end. I weep at his choice to leave us to our own devices to tolerate madness that dominates our political life and threatens the very existence of our Nation. He is irreplaceable. I would vote for him in any office for which he would run but he will never do that because a man with a conscience as refined and sharply honed as his is would never compromise in the multitudinous ways our representatives do. We will search for his replacement but we will never find him again in anyone else. We owe him what little sanity is left in this deranged Nation in which we live, the nightmare of FOX NEWS.
9
At age 34, I grew up with John Stewart as one of the disappointingly few sane voices on the media landscape. I'd put him in the same category as Bill Moyers and other PBS and NPR truth seekers and speakers. I've always thought it was an enormous irony that Stewart, the jester, was the only one who could actually be trusted to consistently speak truth. He was, he still is, my daily catharsis, a needed affirmation that good people who care about protecting democracy and honest discourse, not promoting oligarchy and obfuscation, can still be heard by the masses. Mr. Stewart -- sir -- you will be sorely missed.
13
Now those that we call 'reporters' will have to realize what they write should be about what takes place in our world rather than how they feel about what takes place. I am actually quite sick of hearing who feels what on any given day, including Stewart, as if I'm supposed to march in lock step with the writer/presenter. This particular piece begs me to do the same - feel sorry that Jon Stewart has moved on in his career as a comedian. Ummm - No. He's a comedian and it is their nature to put together a new gig and hit the next big city. It's not earth shattering news, you know, even if politics was his schtick.
Perhaps now 'reporters' will get that they, themselves, aren't the center of North East West and South? Let's hope so - we really could use some facts as we try and make decisions for our nation. Enough of the funny stuff.
Perhaps now 'reporters' will get that they, themselves, aren't the center of North East West and South? Let's hope so - we really could use some facts as we try and make decisions for our nation. Enough of the funny stuff.
You obviously did not get his show, or "shtick", which it wasn't. He sat in his Daily Show chair for more than 15 years, I believe, hardly a "gig" like any comedian's.
And politics was his thing, for the most part, because he truly cares for this country and an open and honest discourse. If you watched his and Colbert's rally in Washington, and his appeal to mainstream journalists to "please stop hurting us", you might have a different impression of his unique style and sincerity. Jon was the go-to journalist (much more than simply a comedian) for those who wanted to hear the truth, and he managed to entertain us at the same time. He broke new ground in journalism, and Colbert quickly followed with his own style and dedication to rip away the curtains that are hiding or obfuscating our politicians' sad, dead-end political (non)activities.
And politics was his thing, for the most part, because he truly cares for this country and an open and honest discourse. If you watched his and Colbert's rally in Washington, and his appeal to mainstream journalists to "please stop hurting us", you might have a different impression of his unique style and sincerity. Jon was the go-to journalist (much more than simply a comedian) for those who wanted to hear the truth, and he managed to entertain us at the same time. He broke new ground in journalism, and Colbert quickly followed with his own style and dedication to rip away the curtains that are hiding or obfuscating our politicians' sad, dead-end political (non)activities.
5
Timothy Egan's recap of the broadcast news and commentary shows left standing brings fresh tears. Hope is in those who come to fill the widening "truth" gaps. We demand it. We take our viewing elsewhere and never see the ads and their appended personalities.
1
"Stewart is a lefty without a cause."
Jon has a cause, all right, and it is a noble cause indeed: He would like serious journalism that informs, enlightens and promotes civic and civil discourse. He would like to see Americans united by a sense of common purpose instead of separation into hostile camps. In short, he would like us to grow up already.
Jon has a cause, all right, and it is a noble cause indeed: He would like serious journalism that informs, enlightens and promotes civic and civil discourse. He would like to see Americans united by a sense of common purpose instead of separation into hostile camps. In short, he would like us to grow up already.
11
I grew up in the 50's and 60's, which is to say that this was the time when I started reading on my own. Comic books, picture books, "Classic Comics," books about dinosaurs, magazines, anything with pictures. But, mainly, I read Mad Magazine. It cost 25 cents (cheap!).
If Mad Magazine taught me anything, it was to mistrust Madison Avenue and anything smacking of advertisement and "too good to be true" deals. Mad Magazine made me critical of all that I saw and heard.
The Daily Show and the Colbert Rapport were the Mad Magazines for this generation, and a continuity for mine as well.
Potrazeebee!
If Mad Magazine taught me anything, it was to mistrust Madison Avenue and anything smacking of advertisement and "too good to be true" deals. Mad Magazine made me critical of all that I saw and heard.
The Daily Show and the Colbert Rapport were the Mad Magazines for this generation, and a continuity for mine as well.
Potrazeebee!
9
How ironic that Al Jazeera America is a far superior news source than any of the network news we inexplicably continue to watch, even as the boundary between them and The Onion evaporates.
7
Stewart's railing at the media reminds me of the struggles of Edward R. Murrow at CBS and how he vainly tried to protect the news division from entertainment and the poisoning of sponsor's opinions; the same comparison Stewart complained of against Brian Williams when Williams allowed the celebrity portion of his brain dominate the journalist portion.
3
Colbert and Stewart deserve a Pulitzer Prize each, amongst other awards (for patriotism and honesty). They educated young and older minds alike about the way we are being led around and around in a never ending cycle of infotainment by the mass media and our politicians. They clarified issues for us and we started paying attention, because of how they were presented, as "fake" real news. Who can forget Colbert's speech in front of the president, a monumental event in journalism, or his Super Pac, that he took as an opportunity to educate us about the power and secrecy of money in politics ? Or Jon's Mess'Opotamia, and his heart felt appeal to the established journalists to "please stop hurting us". Or his countless interviews of serious people we needed to get to know ? Or their huge rally in Washington ? Those were milestones in American television of today. I wonder if "Papa Bear" (O'Reilly) and Wolf Blitzer are relieved to get rid of these "pests", who entertained and enlightened us 4 times a week. If Jon would run for higher office, even the presidency, he'd have my vote. But I believe he would not dip a toe into the cesspool of politics. As for now, I'll be watching John Oliver, Link TV, "Democracy Now", and NPR, besides other non-American news outlets to get a broader picture of what is "truthiness".
7
Today's Left resembles some deadly earnest lecture, from the olden days of BBC Radio, on "The History of the Potato" (Part IV). Today's Right resembles a B Horror Film where the actors try to act serious and it come out hilarious (Palin, Beck, Young Earthers, Fox News, ad nauseam).
If we are going to be rid of this cabal of dunces, the Left needs to be funnier, as it was in the glory days of National Lampoon and George Carlin. Jon Stewart taught us how again.
If we are going to be rid of this cabal of dunces, the Left needs to be funnier, as it was in the glory days of National Lampoon and George Carlin. Jon Stewart taught us how again.
1
Listening to the news everyday ( hour) is one of the most depressing activities you could partake. War without end, Hunger and starvation, the meanness of the right, the fantasy of the left, Countries abusing their minorities, other countries subjugating their majority, Climate gone wild, Incompetent power mongers creating wealth for themselves and their cronies and misery for others, etc, etc, etc. We need someone to remind us that this situations are insane and make us laugh at the idiots that are running the world. They are NOT us.....right?
I don't know how many hundreds/thousands of people have already suggested the obvious: two anchor positions unfilled - why not switch Williams (who has shown his comedic side on Stewart's show) with Stewart - the one "comedic" newsman in America who has earned our trust and respect with his mix of intelligence, integrity and true heart.
2
I've never been able to figure out to whom the networks are broadcasting. Are we really that dumb? It's not just what they show on the news, but how they show it. Some of Jon Stewart's best segments have been about the circus of "reporting" that CNN has become.
Of course there's always some truth in comedy. There's more truth in Jon Stewart's show than any of the network broadcasts because Stewart has not only the wit to deliver but the courage of his convictions. And Viacom lets him have his say. The networks haven't got the guts to put someone like Stewart on the air. Just look at how NBC waffled before "suspending" Brian Williams. Gutless.
The BBC world news on cable TV is my evening news. Their news readers -- most of them seasoned correspondents -- are easy to watch and the delivery keeps my attention. With them, and Stewart, I could survive. I will miss him.
Oh, and suggestion to Comedy Central: Kristen Schaal should replace Jon Stewart when he does leave.
Of course there's always some truth in comedy. There's more truth in Jon Stewart's show than any of the network broadcasts because Stewart has not only the wit to deliver but the courage of his convictions. And Viacom lets him have his say. The networks haven't got the guts to put someone like Stewart on the air. Just look at how NBC waffled before "suspending" Brian Williams. Gutless.
The BBC world news on cable TV is my evening news. Their news readers -- most of them seasoned correspondents -- are easy to watch and the delivery keeps my attention. With them, and Stewart, I could survive. I will miss him.
Oh, and suggestion to Comedy Central: Kristen Schaal should replace Jon Stewart when he does leave.
35
Sadly, Alocksley, we, as a nation, are that dumb.
2
NBC waffled because it was never about news. It was about brand. For them, we are consumers, not citizens.
5
Much has been written about the value of the Fourth Estate in a democracy and the mission of journalists and reporters to keep 'em honest, and one of the first principles of the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics is to "Seek Truth and Report It." (http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp).
Sadly, these journalism mission and ethics have been largely abandoned by our commercial, big corporate news networks and seriously perverted by Fox News and the well-funded right-wing media. Bill Maher mentioned last night that NBC Nightly News reported on climate change only 25 times in a year, when it is undoubtedly one of the most important issues facing our country and planet--that is, if we care about our children's future.
The irony is it is not our professional entertainment-news shows that strive to tell the truth and keep 'em honest, it is our comedians. Jon Stewart is masterful at the art. Bill Maher is caustic and spot-on. And who can forget Tina Fey's savvy imitation of Sarah Palin where Fey uses Palin's own garbled words instead of writing a script?
In my long life, I can't think of a time when we most needed "reporters" who seek the truth and report it. But we won't be getting that from corporate news, which is more interested in "selling" itself, its version of the news and what is "entertaining to the masses, and its sponsors' products.
Part of me whines Jon Stewart has an obligation as a very talented and effective "reporter" to stay on and keep 'em honest
Sadly, these journalism mission and ethics have been largely abandoned by our commercial, big corporate news networks and seriously perverted by Fox News and the well-funded right-wing media. Bill Maher mentioned last night that NBC Nightly News reported on climate change only 25 times in a year, when it is undoubtedly one of the most important issues facing our country and planet--that is, if we care about our children's future.
The irony is it is not our professional entertainment-news shows that strive to tell the truth and keep 'em honest, it is our comedians. Jon Stewart is masterful at the art. Bill Maher is caustic and spot-on. And who can forget Tina Fey's savvy imitation of Sarah Palin where Fey uses Palin's own garbled words instead of writing a script?
In my long life, I can't think of a time when we most needed "reporters" who seek the truth and report it. But we won't be getting that from corporate news, which is more interested in "selling" itself, its version of the news and what is "entertaining to the masses, and its sponsors' products.
Part of me whines Jon Stewart has an obligation as a very talented and effective "reporter" to stay on and keep 'em honest
5
Wow!!! These letters are sopartisan it's hard to believe. During my many Stewart watching years, I never saw him spoof George Soros, Bill Clinton, Harry Reid, the Obama administration clowns like Jarrett, rice,Axelrod, ploughs,etc lying to the audience every Sunday with a straight face. Too much hatred from your readers for everyone who doesn't follow their ideology. I'll miss Jon. But not
That much. it's time to move on.
That much. it's time to move on.
5
If it is supposed to be the young who rely on Jon Stewart for their news I'm not sure what that says about me who at 76 watches him nightly. Though I watch The News Hour and read the NYTimes, I rely on JStewart to keep me on my toes about the absurdity of so many of our elected officials and the US political system in general. Without the humor he employs while pointing out the horrors of the actions of our elected ones, I think I would just go to bed and wait for the next world. His staff should be applauded for their pin point research. All the obits that are flowing are less for you, Jon, than for us as we are losing our umbilical cord to the reality of our political world. Looking forward to your next gig.
96
Exactly. Jon and Stephen were not in the business of appealing to a certain (younger) demographic, they excelled in raising topics and expose hypocrisy in areas that affect all of us, young or old, students or retirees, veterans of our many wars, and people who were just drawn to their way of honestly and plainly exposing and explaining the workings of our political system while at the same time being entertaining. What a feat ! I'll never forget Jon's show after 9/11, when he said, and I paraphrase, "now (because the towers are gone) I have an unobstructed view of the Statue of Liberty, which means to me that freedom will always win against terrorism." It was a moving moment, and a journalistic high point in the aftermath of that incredible tragedy.
3
The dirty secret is that a huge chunk of Jon Stewart's audience aren't millennial but older people like you.
1
Exactly. Jon and Stephen were not in the business of appealing to a certain (younger) demographic, they excelled in raising topics and expose hypocrisy in areas that affect all of us, young or old, students or retirees, veterans of our many wars, and people who were just drawn to their way of honestly and plainly exposing and explaining the workings of our political system while at the same time being entertaining. What a feat ! I'll never forget Jon's show after 9/11, when he said, and I paraphrase, "now (because the towers are gone) I have an unobstructed view of the Statue of Liberty, which means to me that freedom will always win against terrorism." It was a moving moment, and a journalistic high point in the aftermath of that incredible tragedy.
2
Love you, Jon. Spend time with that lucky family of yours. You saved my sanity by letting us know, especially in early 2003 about the Iraq War, that we could believe our lyin'eyes.
And incidently, when was P. J. O'Rourke funny? Bitter, caustic, yes. But in my book, never funny
And incidently, when was P. J. O'Rourke funny? Bitter, caustic, yes. But in my book, never funny
2
Hmmm - wonder what Jon is up to... Isn't it interesting that he made his announcement right around the time that candidates for President in 2016 start gearing up their campaigns? Is it a coincidence that Jon recently had Mike Huckabee on his show, who recently resigned from Fox to run his own campaign? Will we hear next that Colbert is starting yet another PAC?
Probably not - but I wish.....and it would be fun to start the rumor, eh?
Probably not - but I wish.....and it would be fun to start the rumor, eh?
3
Loved the show. A watch-fire in the dark political night. But then I'm an old guy and have sampled news in various languages hither an yon--that is, I can distinguish reality from make-believe and clowning from lying. I know some much younger people who can't discriminate, and who appear to have learned disdain for the ordinary life of politics.
Life is a big sandwich of drudgery with a dash of spicy dressing. If people think life should be all spice, we're in trouble.
Life is a big sandwich of drudgery with a dash of spicy dressing. If people think life should be all spice, we're in trouble.
1
Faith in the media? That is one commodity on the endangered species list. All the more reason why readers of The New York Times, like me, see the Times as the last best great hope for a free press. No doubt The Times has had to weather many of its own storms, and The Times, along with all of America's newspapers, has seen a drop in readership as it has watched the erosion of its revenues. News hounds, like me, have to dig. I'll watch PBS, listen to NPR, Democracy Now, and read Rolling Stone, Nation of Change, Truth Out and Common Dreams. But I imagine too many people rely on the banality of broadcast nightly news, or worse, the cynical and maniacal Fox. My guess is that Jon Stewart is the most hated man in America by the gun-toting right wing ideologues who do not find him the least bit funny and use his image for target practice. Jon is brave, but he is really no fool. Maybe he wants out before they do to him what he probably believes they most likely will until he does go.
1
Let's see Steward apply his $100M nest egg and do something about it.
I nibble on TV news during the day. A story breaks in the morning then runs in place - hyped and litigated all day long. Andrea Mitchell stumbles through a front-loaded question at 1PM. Excited panels of people interrupt each other all afternoon. Judy Woodruff ay 6PM recites the news like a long dull prose poem. Never a First Down until nightfall when Stewart and Maddow finally turn up. Yes, they've had a chance to think about it. The thing is - they know how.
I watch Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow.
I watch Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow.
2
Typical liberal oped, all style, zero substance. If not for ridicule, liberal analysis would be silent. And that would include Stewart's delivering of the "news." As for Stewart's replacement, a Red Skeleton-like clown would be perfect.
1
I could give you a reading list--waste of my time, however. Read Susan Jacoby in today's NYT, and find one of her books.
2
And that's the point.
Jon never claimed to be a journalist. He simply used the media's own words to pillory them and point out their hypocracies.
Jon never claimed to be a journalist. He simply used the media's own words to pillory them and point out their hypocracies.
4
Many of us Americans will suffer the loss of John Stewart. He has been an oasis in the dry desert of news reporting. The media aims for alarmist, repetitive, often slanted, sometimes incorrect, always dramatically read
reports of the news.
While the networks are guilty of promoting the presentation of news in such a way. it has a purpose of giving viewers the illusion they are hearing truth. We felt cleansed after John Stewart's skewing of such portrayal of news. We will miss his good sense and good humor, and wish him success as he says farewell.
reports of the news.
While the networks are guilty of promoting the presentation of news in such a way. it has a purpose of giving viewers the illusion they are hearing truth. We felt cleansed after John Stewart's skewing of such portrayal of news. We will miss his good sense and good humor, and wish him success as he says farewell.
2
There is a hidden agenda in the "main stream media" or what I prefer to call the major news outlets. It is not what you might think. People who cover Washington, for example, generally believe that govt. is supposed to work, so this is falsely seen as a leftward bias. Would you send someone to cover NASCAR who didn't believe in racing or someone to cover football who only saw beastly brutality? Not likely. The right sees bias everywhere, the better to inject their own bias in its place.
No, the hidden agenda of the media is more subtle, might be called establishmentarian. The message is this: things are going to work out. Committees are being appointed. A new election will be held. People will be indicted and taken to jail. It is a bias that favors process and the slow, gliding continuation of the status quo, slightly altered.
Jon Stewart was buying none of that. Things were NOT going to work out with these dolts in charge and he wanted us all to know it. He wants, still, for us to wake up and realize the dangers we face.
As one who worked in television and radio news for years, I favor his "sound the alarm", jaundiced view of Washington and politicians, but I don't know how this could work in a straight news program. Have I seen politicians lie to my face and to the nation? Yes. Did I try to call them on it? You bet.
Maybe every newscast should end with "This is what we think we know, but remember, things are not always what they seem. Be wary."
Doug Terry
No, the hidden agenda of the media is more subtle, might be called establishmentarian. The message is this: things are going to work out. Committees are being appointed. A new election will be held. People will be indicted and taken to jail. It is a bias that favors process and the slow, gliding continuation of the status quo, slightly altered.
Jon Stewart was buying none of that. Things were NOT going to work out with these dolts in charge and he wanted us all to know it. He wants, still, for us to wake up and realize the dangers we face.
As one who worked in television and radio news for years, I favor his "sound the alarm", jaundiced view of Washington and politicians, but I don't know how this could work in a straight news program. Have I seen politicians lie to my face and to the nation? Yes. Did I try to call them on it? You bet.
Maybe every newscast should end with "This is what we think we know, but remember, things are not always what they seem. Be wary."
Doug Terry
7
Dennis Miller is a hilarious conservative, but it does seem to be a small club.
He's also inclined to deviate from truth. In making fun of climate theory, he yukked that "they couldn't even measure temperatures a hundred years ago." But that's cute from a guy who sticks with Fahrenheit (a scale devised in 1754).
4
Dennis Miller strikes me as a guy who is in love with his own voice and choice of words, that seem to be picked from an exotic dictionary. He is not funny IMHO.
6
I've watched the Daily Show for many years and have missed, perhaps, an episode or two in all that time. For me it has been almost like therapy. It's as if nobody understands just how crazy the world is except Jon and the Daily Show staff. In a world where so many people pursue an agenda that is at odds with the well-being of the rest of us, it was great to have a laugh at the silliness, the craziness, the hypocrisy, the ignorance and the outright malevolence. It's too bad that exposing all of that didn't diminish it. So far as I can tell, nobody mended their ways after a Daily Show skewering. Well, I appreciated the laughs.... and the therapy.
1
Where is Will Rogers now that we need -- really need -- him?
Stewart with John Oliver as a hyper-obnoxious gin drinking British colonialist - "gold, Jerry!"
1
What percentage of Americans know who John Stewert is? 2? 5? Do more Americans know who John Stewert is than Brians Williamsons or Lindsy Greyham?
Jon Stewart's and Steven Colbert's "fake news" were far more real and relevant than anything on ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX or NBC. While FOX is often derided by its deliberate lies and distortions, all the other stations present mostly distortions and misinformation in between commercials for Big Pharma drugs, and most of time they simply don't discuss any "news" of importance. Fortunately I can watch NHK Japan over breakfast, and France 24 over dinner, on my PBS affiliate.
2
I am not paid to write this, but I highly recommend LINK TV, NPR, and "Democracy Now" for people who are seriously interested in getting a minimum of relevant information about what is going on, not only in this little self involved country, but in the big wide world out there. Or to watch European and other continent's news shows. It's quite eye-opening, if not surprising, that we here in the USA live in an echo chamber, a bubble of buzz words and useless posturing by politicians and the mainstream media.
6
Evidently, Jon Stewart's view of America has always been more accurate than most others. Just go back an dread what he has had to say. Makes more sense that any word or complete sentence which comes out of Congress. And they seldom speak in complete sentences. Truthfully.........
1
I am curious to see what Jon is going to do next more than I'm sad he's leaving the Daily Show. For over a decade he's taken the lead spoon feeding us all to deconstruct and decode the media "news" spin, rhetoric and did a great job teaching logic my professor would have envied. He's created a nation of experts who can now do what he at first did for us for ourselves. He has succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams creating an obstacle to propaganda and agitprop that "news" has become. Now that even republicans are having to use the "I-word" (inequality) what more can say that he can safely move on to the next thing. Now that everybody acknowledges that inequality exists, my hope is that Jon's talents will push people into actually doing something about it. After all, isn't the fact that news is anything but proof of the the unequal few's domination over the less equal many?
1
Jon Stewart did what the mainstream media failed to do. When politicians or public figures looked at the camera and denied ever saying something, he founds videos showing them saying it. The mainstream let them get away with it. I will miss him terribly.
4
Colbert and Stewart deserve a Pulitzer each, amongst other rewards, for educating young and old minds about the way we are being led around and around by the mass media and the politicians who are not really interested in clarifying issues for us. They are infotainment, dependent on advertising dollars or getting re-elected or pushing issues that lobbyists paid their election for.
Who can forget Colbert's Super Pac and how enlightening it must have been for so many of us who were not really sure what they were and how easy it was for them to hide their resources ? Or John's Mess'opotamia, and his heart felt appeal to journalists to "stop hurting us", and his countless interviews with serious people who we needed to get to know ? Or their huge event in Washington D.C. ? They did so much more with their "fake" news than any "serious" news team at the big networks. And "Papa Bear" (O'Reilly) and Wolf Blitzer and Co. know it. I wonder if they are relieved now. And I so hope that somebody of a similar caliber steps onto the throne of Jon or Steve and continues their tradition of giving us a half hour of honesty and insight 4 times every week.
Who can forget Colbert's Super Pac and how enlightening it must have been for so many of us who were not really sure what they were and how easy it was for them to hide their resources ? Or John's Mess'opotamia, and his heart felt appeal to journalists to "stop hurting us", and his countless interviews with serious people who we needed to get to know ? Or their huge event in Washington D.C. ? They did so much more with their "fake" news than any "serious" news team at the big networks. And "Papa Bear" (O'Reilly) and Wolf Blitzer and Co. know it. I wonder if they are relieved now. And I so hope that somebody of a similar caliber steps onto the throne of Jon or Steve and continues their tradition of giving us a half hour of honesty and insight 4 times every week.
56
Egan says that for Jon Stewart, "a gifted clown with wide-ranging curiosity, Fox News was not just a house of hypocrisy and endless source material. It was part of what made a great democracy harder to govern, and less likely to share a common narrative." To paraphrase the last sentence: Fox makes the American people harder for the government to control and less likely to exhibit thought conformity. To Egan, this is a BAD thing.
3
If lying to people about the issues of the day, distorting every story, and propagating phony wars and scandals is somehow to be admired as "discouraging conformity," then Orwell's 1984 has been fully implemented. There is no political and social benefit to creating a false narrative of world events just to encourage people to hate their government and their fellow citizens, under the banner of critical thought. Critical thought begins with truth and facts. Garbage in. . . .garbage out.
4
Oh, bull. What Fox does is turn one group of Americans against their fellow citizens. It creates an us vs. them mindset, often based on the most superficial and inconsequential differences. It makes political opponents into mortal enemies. It makes a philosophical disagreement into a good vs evil fight to the death.
Fox is responsible for a large portion of the government and civicndysfunction we see today. It created a venue for politicians where there was, quite suddenly, no downside to lying.
Fox is responsible for a large portion of the government and civicndysfunction we see today. It created a venue for politicians where there was, quite suddenly, no downside to lying.
8
I think you missed his point, which was that the endless stream of paranoid propaganda from Fox News has made it difficult for our country to form consensus or reach compromises on the many challenges we collectively face.
3
Jon Stewart is unique in his ability to produce insightful, often hilarious commentary on the state of politics, media and the human condition.
He is whip smart in addition to being funny, always the mark of a great commedian.
When he interviewed a subject, he did his homework and actually listened to responses, pivoting the interview as new information dictates.
His critics were merely frustrated in his crushing success in examining people and issues.
There is no greater compliment than to be despised by the dispicable.
While I will miss him in this role immensely, he has taught, trained and inspired generations of new talent to carry his valiant traditions.
Further, Jon Stewart's best work is ahead.
He is whip smart in addition to being funny, always the mark of a great commedian.
When he interviewed a subject, he did his homework and actually listened to responses, pivoting the interview as new information dictates.
His critics were merely frustrated in his crushing success in examining people and issues.
There is no greater compliment than to be despised by the dispicable.
While I will miss him in this role immensely, he has taught, trained and inspired generations of new talent to carry his valiant traditions.
Further, Jon Stewart's best work is ahead.
3
Greg Gutfeld is spot on. Fox News serves up innuendo, half truths, salacious headlines and flat out errors multiple times a day. Fair and balanced was and is an oxymoron. They are always too easy. As to Jon Stewart, his ability to be a better journalist than most journalists was legendary. As to the Daily show, it did better reporting with its tongue in cheek than 90% of what passes for news on most outlets including Fox News. It will be sadly missed.
6
He made us laugh at everyone - including ourselves. That is the mark of genius comedy.
Like other comedians before him, he took the old adage that "more truth is said in jest" and turned it into a wry and satirical look at the "real news." Where that "real news" was something we couldn't be the least bit interested in watching on any of the "real" networks, we got actual news and information from Jon Stewart - the kind of stuff that makes you sit up and ask yourself why you haven't done anything to try to effectuate change, and when was the last time you remembered ever laughing so hard at anything.
Huge loss for all of us who actually care about anything other than ourselves, our hair, our makeup, and our last-night's numbers at the network.
Like other comedians before him, he took the old adage that "more truth is said in jest" and turned it into a wry and satirical look at the "real news." Where that "real news" was something we couldn't be the least bit interested in watching on any of the "real" networks, we got actual news and information from Jon Stewart - the kind of stuff that makes you sit up and ask yourself why you haven't done anything to try to effectuate change, and when was the last time you remembered ever laughing so hard at anything.
Huge loss for all of us who actually care about anything other than ourselves, our hair, our makeup, and our last-night's numbers at the network.
4
Stewart and Colbert have abdicated. Civilization is doomed.
4
I learned more about this country from watching the Daily Show and the Colbert Report than I did from any network evening news show. Where else can you watch clips of real congressman praise the leadership abilities of Vladimir Putin, but on the Daily Show? I praise the Colbert Report for shedding light on such taboo subjects as fracking. I miss Colbert and I will certainly miss Stewart. It is funny that a country that loves war so much treats its veterans so shamefully.
Thank you Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert for making me feel we still have a society.
Thank you Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert for making me feel we still have a society.
6
A pretty smug column by Egan.
A few things, Stewart is not a gifted clown (he's a brilliant comic and satirist) and the Daily Show wasn't fake news. It was a comedic commentary on American Politics and American Media.
The Daily Show format works and will continue to work . Comedy Central
has to make the correct caasting call in who will next take over piloting the ship.
A few things, Stewart is not a gifted clown (he's a brilliant comic and satirist) and the Daily Show wasn't fake news. It was a comedic commentary on American Politics and American Media.
The Daily Show format works and will continue to work . Comedy Central
has to make the correct caasting call in who will next take over piloting the ship.
4
CBS this morning is an excellent show so please don't lump it in with Today or GMA. JS is gifted but there is just so much of him that I can take. Colbert all the way.
1
"It shouldn’t take a comedian, obviously, to do that."
It should, and it has throughout history and in various cultures taken satirists to do the job of pulling back the curtain of hypocrisy. For example, Mark Twain, HL Menken in the US. I think the problem was that we lacked someone like Jon for too long. Here's hoping we never lack for good satire after Jon's tenure at The Daily Show.
It should, and it has throughout history and in various cultures taken satirists to do the job of pulling back the curtain of hypocrisy. For example, Mark Twain, HL Menken in the US. I think the problem was that we lacked someone like Jon for too long. Here's hoping we never lack for good satire after Jon's tenure at The Daily Show.
3
It has been said, and proven true in many contexts, that one can learn as much or more about the human mind from a study of the history of ideas, or from fiction, than one can from psychology. Stewart is a perfect example. both of a history study and fiction. Traditionally, the court jester, they official clown, would serve a role in pointing out the absurd, when the priest class had failed to provide royalty with good counsel. But they were never meant as a replacement for the intellectual class, and Stewart was a satirist, who tried to get us see our intellectual poverty and he used fiction to draw this out. You could literally get more from one his shows, than a semester of poly sci. Not having an intellectual class to fill the void, our court jesters, though not Stewart, turned into the angry clown; Rush and Maher are perfect examples, the angry clown who was angry because the jester could not be the intellectual. From the yippies in the sixties to Tricky Dicks clowns, to even Carl Rove who thought he could build a big tent with rhetoric, we lack a voice, not one who can speak, Obama fills the bill, but one who would be heard. How much more damage is going to be done while we wait for a voice to speak and be heard?
1
Stewart kept appearing as a substitute for years and all i could think is someone saw great potential in this guy. He was allowed to find a voice after being apparently too tongue- tied to properly interview some of his guests in the 1990's. I wonder if someone like that would get enough chances to find a brilliant late blooming voice like Stewart
1
I hope someone else has already suggested this. Jon Stewart would make a great anchor for NBC News. Apparently they have an opening.
3
I have difficulty watching Jon Stewart and it's because the audience screams and claps in what seem every two minutes. It's very distracting; it's somewhat like the Oprah and Ellen shows. I last about 3 minutes.
2
It was a sorry day when news became entertainment and everything became a target of cynical humor. Unfortunately going to war and experiencing income inequality along with decrepit roads and infrastructure is serious. Few people read and try to understand their world. We see a continuing decline in literacy. Witness the controversy over immunization. I was 10 before a polio vaccine was developed. I had measles and chicken pox. Once we had an engaged population. The Great Depression and WWII along with the draft and cold war focused the mind. Now it is all about the trite and mundane.
6
Oh god, I cannot express how much I LOVE Jon Stewart -- always have, even before he was famous. There were a few years when he was doing stuff on TV but had just not hit it big yet. I loved him then, I love him now, and I truly always will. He's a genius, the people who work on the show with him are geniuses. He truly makes us smarter for having known him. I am dying right now and would do just about anything to have him not leave the show. But -- if it means Stewart for President in 2016, then I would be so happy I might spontaneously combust. He's beyond awesome, there are no words. He's smart, he's funny, and he's super hot too. :-)
Jill Duncan
Denver, CO
Jill Duncan
Denver, CO
5
Everyone is sad about Jon Stewart'd untimely retirement with at least one exception. Jim Cramer.
His empire collapsed in 15 minutes with Stewart.
His empire collapsed in 15 minutes with Stewart.
4
Jon Stewart is a great man, a wonderful artist of the comic, and a patriot.
11
Goodbye, Jon, and thank you.
3
There are no "both sides". There's only the corporate media's side, that reports to suit their advertisers and owners. They own both political parties. When I learned about the presidential debates being owned by a corporation, that incuded only the Democrat Party and the Republican Party, I got a clue about how it all works. The only news I mostly trust is Democracy Now. THis is not to say there aren't individual reporters who do their best to report the truth. They are not always allowed to. The decisions of what to run is the job of the editorial staff. I suppose it depends on who they have dinner with the most. Or if the president's office calls them, or if their biggest advertiser could be offended. Sometimes the corporation even has considerable stock in the outlet. Considering that a company like Chevron or Exxon Moblie are the largest corporations in the U.S., that has more money than most countries in the world, it is not hard to understand how corporate media dances their tune.
2
okay.
only a cold eye helped me sustain hearing stewart speak, and in innocence, of his troupe positively when i understand a lesser gallipoli of the mire he.s experiencing, if only because the actual struck a chord of communality in the recognition and mourning of another.s suffering its tragedy, a loss so serial in removal, in bigoted particularities, in classy unsaid reeking stale blood, and for the turn of an eyelash at that in this century, which i cannot express without anything but contempt at both life and worth being cast aside for nothing. even if unsaid though there is a communality there for stewart, as for everybody, from which he can still understand and create when he will, there to sustain away from harm by others, keeping out charlotte corday more effectively than her billet de doux visite of a skin disorder did for marat and why should stewart forget this when applied to self, when he conveyed that in his work on the daily, and for the viewer and helped me. i.ll remember that and my inability not to convey the truth about things to him in a more positive way, but then, when he chooses, and i.ll miss him on the air, because i have never seen a person so full of blindspots, necessary, inevitable, sequential mean so much, so well, and skillfully. i think of stewart, i think of the speed in the meter of his writing, detailing a description that is, at the same time, its urge to describe. he nourished that love.
stewart is not a -clown- but also an artist
only a cold eye helped me sustain hearing stewart speak, and in innocence, of his troupe positively when i understand a lesser gallipoli of the mire he.s experiencing, if only because the actual struck a chord of communality in the recognition and mourning of another.s suffering its tragedy, a loss so serial in removal, in bigoted particularities, in classy unsaid reeking stale blood, and for the turn of an eyelash at that in this century, which i cannot express without anything but contempt at both life and worth being cast aside for nothing. even if unsaid though there is a communality there for stewart, as for everybody, from which he can still understand and create when he will, there to sustain away from harm by others, keeping out charlotte corday more effectively than her billet de doux visite of a skin disorder did for marat and why should stewart forget this when applied to self, when he conveyed that in his work on the daily, and for the viewer and helped me. i.ll remember that and my inability not to convey the truth about things to him in a more positive way, but then, when he chooses, and i.ll miss him on the air, because i have never seen a person so full of blindspots, necessary, inevitable, sequential mean so much, so well, and skillfully. i think of stewart, i think of the speed in the meter of his writing, detailing a description that is, at the same time, its urge to describe. he nourished that love.
stewart is not a -clown- but also an artist
2
Jon Stewart was an op-ed piece extraodinaire.
Painfully on-point, for those skewered.
Funny, and so far beyond comparison in that department.
We shall see if someone of equal stature might emerge from the morass.
Meantime, we'll savor the remaining moments.
Painfully on-point, for those skewered.
Funny, and so far beyond comparison in that department.
We shall see if someone of equal stature might emerge from the morass.
Meantime, we'll savor the remaining moments.
30
I have always enjoyed Jon Stewarts humor. But! I can never dismiss the disservice he did to the nation when he allowed his show to be used by Republicans in the Bush desertion controversy by playing just a sound byte of the Texas Air National Guard Secretaries interview in which she said "she didn't type" one document but went on to say "she had typed that same information on another form" which was edited out. Had he played the entire interview, the world would be a safer place today.
12
In the Internet era - what is news? I get the instant report of all global events and utterances of leaders, and I decide which one I am interested to explore. The interesting thing is to get the subtle analysis of those events and utterances and put a personal touch for my understanding. To give that subtle explanation require intelligence and moral strength - you can not do it as a business strategy or a political propaganda. Stewart has that intelligence and moral strength - most of the FOX and CNN reporters lack that and their business strategy will not permit them to try even.
Social media is developing an informed society - the old baby boomers will slowly fade from the scene with their interest of Nightly News and Meet the Press and entertainments of FOX will slowly appear too repetitive and same. We will overcome - the brightness of truth and morality will shine even if Stewart is not there.
Social media is developing an informed society - the old baby boomers will slowly fade from the scene with their interest of Nightly News and Meet the Press and entertainments of FOX will slowly appear too repetitive and same. We will overcome - the brightness of truth and morality will shine even if Stewart is not there.
6
Check your facts. Jon Stewart, born 1962, is a Baby Boomer, perhaps the last generation with truth, morality and a sense of humor.
2
An "informed society"? Are you serious?
1
Uh...this old boomer hasn't got any news in decades from network evening news shows....that's how long ago I quit them.
I've been with Jon Stewart from the beginning (having seen his old MTV show), and I have been mourning since the shock of learning ,--- on Facebook -- that he'd be leaving.
My boomer friends are the same.
Don't confuse us with the slightly older "silent generation." They account for more Tea Partiers and Fox viewers than people my age.
I've been with Jon Stewart from the beginning (having seen his old MTV show), and I have been mourning since the shock of learning ,--- on Facebook -- that he'd be leaving.
My boomer friends are the same.
Don't confuse us with the slightly older "silent generation." They account for more Tea Partiers and Fox viewers than people my age.
2
Many of us in Canada, myself included, harbour a lingering anti USA sentiment. This rose in my gorge, during the sickening Bush Cheney years, to the point of vowing to never set foot in the USA as long as I live. It was only Stewart and Colbert that tempered my disgust for the country. I figured that any country that could support their existence couldn't be all bad. Obama's election certainly helped push down the bile I felt for the country and the distaste I felt toward my American cousins as we used to think of you. I still harbour distrust of the American gun toting right and bible belt anti evolutionists that appear to be the Republican base. Yet I will continue to give you the benefit of the doubt because of Jon and Stephen and others that challenge your electorate to think for themselves. I am 70 and grew up thinking I could become President. As a child I didn't understand that Canada was a different country, so invasive has been your impact on our culture. My mother used to tell me of the comfort she got from FDR's fireside chats and and she was bereft at the assassination of Kennedy. The world-wide good will extended toward he US after 9/11 was squander by the political right.
50
Frank, You are my distant northern friend whom I never met way back on my hitch-hiking trip to Alaska in 1973. The most wonderful and rewarding part of my adventure was spent with my newly made Canadian friends encountered along the way. Growing up in the South in the 50's and 60's I was a sojourner in search; in your country I found many answers. Thank-you and to your compatriots! Take care, and...Keep on keep'n on!
Completely on point but we do take note of that fellow Harper now atop the heap in your otherwise admirable country. How long will his behavior be tolerated?
4
I'm sure you know that plenty of us on the southern side of the border share you emotions.
3
When Jon Stewart retires, I will greatly miss his 4 x per week informative, wacky, spontaneous "take on reality". Jon's performances reveal his perceptiveness, intelligence, honest credibility, curiosity, sense of humanity, and creative, spontaneous humor. He is such a genuinely likable guy, who greatly values truthfulness. I think he is a manifestation of what's best in our crazy-quilt culture.
It seems to me that the main reason it's difficult for conservatives to foster substantial, well-respected comedians, is that an individual can not truly recognize and comically call attention to the shadow side of someone else's way of thinking (duplicity, hypocrisy, rationalization, simplistic reasoning, intolerance, fear-mongering, egotism, desire for control over others), until he or she has first learned to recognize and challenge, to some degree, these tendencies in oneself.
It seems to me that the main reason it's difficult for conservatives to foster substantial, well-respected comedians, is that an individual can not truly recognize and comically call attention to the shadow side of someone else's way of thinking (duplicity, hypocrisy, rationalization, simplistic reasoning, intolerance, fear-mongering, egotism, desire for control over others), until he or she has first learned to recognize and challenge, to some degree, these tendencies in oneself.
26
This was one of the best reflections on what Stewart and The Daily Show actually did over the past decade I've seen. It's not complicated, but it is rather peculiar, and I think says some very particular things about the state of the public's awareness of its own society and world.
His takedown of Crossfire during his appearance on that dreadful "Red Vs. Blue Gotcha Hour!"should be archived at the Smithsonian. By the way, it is one of the saints of modern journalism, Tim Russert, whose coined that insidious idea.
Beyond the jokes, maybe we shouldn't laugh. One of Stewart's premises was, the state of our news media is profoundly, and perhaps irreparably corrupt and doomed to idiocratic simplifications. And that's not very funny, but it is the possibility that underpinned Stewart's sense of things. Things are actually not funny at all.
His takedown of Crossfire during his appearance on that dreadful "Red Vs. Blue Gotcha Hour!"should be archived at the Smithsonian. By the way, it is one of the saints of modern journalism, Tim Russert, whose coined that insidious idea.
Beyond the jokes, maybe we shouldn't laugh. One of Stewart's premises was, the state of our news media is profoundly, and perhaps irreparably corrupt and doomed to idiocratic simplifications. And that's not very funny, but it is the possibility that underpinned Stewart's sense of things. Things are actually not funny at all.
23
I admire and respect John Stewart. However, I was disappointed in his interview with DuVernay regarding the controversy surrounding "Selma." She sloughed off criticism about her view of LBJ and other white involvement in the civil rights movement. Mr. Stewart should have probed further, as he does with most other guests. I wonder why he didn't do so.
7
What difference does it make?
Note to NY Times editors.
It is FOX....not FOX News
Calling itself a news organization does not make it so and few organizations have done more to degrade the news profession than the minions of Mr. Murdoch and Mr. Ailes.
We are losing Stewart, we have lost Bob Simon, Mike Wallace, Cronkite et al.
We are left with Lindsay Graham and John McCain being fawned over by Sean Hannity, and an endless succession of paid "experts", many of them further funded by organizations with agendas ranging from climate denial to continuation of the use of carbon fuels to the promotion of endless warfare.
If it is "free speech", why is so much money being spent on it?
Sickening!
It is FOX....not FOX News
Calling itself a news organization does not make it so and few organizations have done more to degrade the news profession than the minions of Mr. Murdoch and Mr. Ailes.
We are losing Stewart, we have lost Bob Simon, Mike Wallace, Cronkite et al.
We are left with Lindsay Graham and John McCain being fawned over by Sean Hannity, and an endless succession of paid "experts", many of them further funded by organizations with agendas ranging from climate denial to continuation of the use of carbon fuels to the promotion of endless warfare.
If it is "free speech", why is so much money being spent on it?
Sickening!
28
Stewart 2016 for a ground breaking Jewish presidency!
23
Goodness, that's a weird comparison: "Senator Lindsey Graham talking about all the places we need to bomb now. Ted Cruz will do an impression of the Tin Man without a heart or a brain, and Nancy Pelosi will demonstrate that humor impairment is bipartisan."
Don't you see a not-so-slight difference between the Republicans and the Democrat listed? One side wants national policy to include bombing everybody and ignoring the poor, while the other side lacks a sense of humor? You have a bizarre sense of "equivalence."
Don't you see a not-so-slight difference between the Republicans and the Democrat listed? One side wants national policy to include bombing everybody and ignoring the poor, while the other side lacks a sense of humor? You have a bizarre sense of "equivalence."
10
You're right, Pelosi has been far worse for our country than lickspittles like Graham and Cruz.
1
The editorial combined with the comment thread was particularly compelling. It echos my own thoughts on Jon Stewart and other comic pundits such as Colbert and Maher.
Each in their own way shines a light on subjects of urgent national importance. While the mainstream news media is content with their wall-to-wall ratings quest - complete with soundbites, and almost no content of value, the likes of Stewart offered up real news with a healthy dose of comedy. Say what you will, about them being buffoons or clowns, the thing that makes them funny is that what they do is based on facts...something mainstream news has lost sight of.
But the real problem here is that although this has provided fodder for progressives, the fact remains that the likes of Stewart, Colbert and Maher have been ineffective in shifting the needle on POLICY. Those who they (rightly) deride the most, are those who are firmly in charge of our government and economy.
We all know what the problems ARE, but as a nation we have been unable to move the national conversation and policies in a direction that would bring desperately needed relief to the 99%.
Bloggers, pundit and comics stepping things up won't really work. Unfortunately, we need boots on the ground and people who are not afraid to be arrested, tear gassed. Sadly, the only way things will change is if the 1% have a healthy FEAR of the 99%. Comics can't do that.
Each in their own way shines a light on subjects of urgent national importance. While the mainstream news media is content with their wall-to-wall ratings quest - complete with soundbites, and almost no content of value, the likes of Stewart offered up real news with a healthy dose of comedy. Say what you will, about them being buffoons or clowns, the thing that makes them funny is that what they do is based on facts...something mainstream news has lost sight of.
But the real problem here is that although this has provided fodder for progressives, the fact remains that the likes of Stewart, Colbert and Maher have been ineffective in shifting the needle on POLICY. Those who they (rightly) deride the most, are those who are firmly in charge of our government and economy.
We all know what the problems ARE, but as a nation we have been unable to move the national conversation and policies in a direction that would bring desperately needed relief to the 99%.
Bloggers, pundit and comics stepping things up won't really work. Unfortunately, we need boots on the ground and people who are not afraid to be arrested, tear gassed. Sadly, the only way things will change is if the 1% have a healthy FEAR of the 99%. Comics can't do that.
9
As my rabi once said when quoting Sigmund Freud, Life is no joke! That is why we must always joke about it. Freud and my rabbi both world have been proud and amazed by Johns insightful antics on the Daily Show. Thank you!
11
Wow - very well put Mr. Egan! My sentiments exactly.
17
I did not watch Jon Stewart often but when I did I loved his show and he himself is just brilliant as well as hilarious. I do not understand why he is leaving and my dearest hope is that we will find a spot in the news where he will continue to do groundbreaking wonderful work. Did he leave because most of his staff moved on? Where can he go in TV land where he will make a difference. I surely hope he has some plans up his wide sleeve beyond having dinner with his family. God, I will miss him and now will watch him until he leaves. A great man. So sorry he and Colbert will be finished at Comedy Central. Naively, I believed he'd stay on for at least five more years. Then again, this is selfish as the man must be exhausted. Bye Jon hope to see you in a new venue soon.
17
It is really weird seeing the reaction of reporters who had no real idea of Jon Stewart's impact. Even the reliable fivethirtyeight tried a hatchet piece trying to show how low Stewart's ratings were. Well, ijit, did you take into account all the people who watch Stewart, but never at 11pm at night? That is pretty much everyone I know. Most people saw Stewart through the various forms on media these days that were not the television. And why the heck was Jon being paid more than the two network cash cows, Leno and Letterman? Because Comedy Central was charitable? The imbecilic articles written by people who should and can know better about Stewart's impact have been astounding.
31
Excellent point. Traditional TV ratings are meaningless in today's context. We watched Stewart online only becsuse we live (way) outside the time zone ... and then we pass his work on via email and social email. Measure THAT.
1
I thought FOX was all Fake News, all the time; The problem is none of my neighbors realize this.
28
I watched Stewart and Colbert for a time. In the end I stopped watching Stewart because his humor was a bit too adolescent for my taste. And Colbert was just too obnoxious—even if it was play acting. Although Stewart often had perceptive and articulate insights into the current political situation, what both he and Colbert often engaged in was straw-man arguments. There are real issues that need discussion. Simply making fun of inarticulate and often stupid opponents of your position by means of sarcastic humor does little to raise the level of political discourse. It reminds me of many comments made in criticism of some of David Brooks’ columns. No matter how innocuous or even interesting (God forbid) they might be, everyone dumps on him. Why? Because he’s a Republican. But despite being a Republican, sometimes he has a point. (It would be interesting to see how these “enlightened” Times’ readers who claim infinite tolerance dealt with people that were really different from themselves.) Both Stewart and Colbert often demonstrated an abuse of humor for partisan political purposes. At times Gail Collins does the same. Maybe it’s time we all grew up a bit.
8
I hope that Jon's hard work for 16 years pays off by influencing the younger generation to get out and vote. It's the least they can do to show their appreciation for all the entertainment and education they received from him. Jon has shown us with amazing humor and facts how our country is run by clowns owned by corporate money. Don't let that continue or your future will be a joke, just not as funny as Jon's would have been.
16
Thank you.
It is not Jon Stewart's job to get the feckless public to vote. It is the responsibility of every citizen in a democracy to vote. Because of the briliance of Stewart they cannot pretend not to know what's at stake. The fact that over 70% of the American failed to even show up to vote is a failure of citizens to do their duty. It is hardly the fault of a man that told them the truth.
1
Trying to be optimistic about the departure of this man with a truly unique talent for exposing the "real" news, I envision history or sociology classes starting to show clips of him reporting his excellent perspective of events. Core curriculum. Wishful thinking?? I also like the sound of "Senate majority leader Jon Stewart".
11
Dead on! We will miss Jon's pointed wit
9
Can anyone on this thread honestly claim that they would love Colbert and Stewart if they were conservative? Is it not possible that the bizarre hero worship shown to a TV comedian has more to do with partisanship than appreciation of talent?
6
Nope. Not possible. There never has been and never will be a conservative commentator one tenth as funny as John Stewart, because conservatives are by their nature weak at humor - they are the Frank Burns's and Hot Lips Houlihan's of the world, more suitable as targets than as sharpshooters. The thing that sustains contemporary conservatism is money, not wit. I value the unintentional hilarity served up by its leading practitioners, but it is insufficient compensation for the havoc they have wrought.
17
That's an impossible question to ask. If they were conservative, they could not do what they do. They would have been as successful as Fox's very brief "Half Hour Comedy Hour." No one would ever have heard of them.
For some reason, you can let me know what it is, its hard to make fun of liberals, but so easy to make fun of conservatives.
For some reason, you can let me know what it is, its hard to make fun of liberals, but so easy to make fun of conservatives.
6
Dear Chris,
Sorry mate but things are so bad in media in our country that there is a bit of hero worship of both Stewart and Colbert. For the simple reason that they tell the unvarnished truth in a comedic way. And, thank God, for them. You seem to want to imply that there are conservative comedians. Now THAT is a joke.
Sorry mate but things are so bad in media in our country that there is a bit of hero worship of both Stewart and Colbert. For the simple reason that they tell the unvarnished truth in a comedic way. And, thank God, for them. You seem to want to imply that there are conservative comedians. Now THAT is a joke.
3
To borrow a word from Brian Williams, it sure has become easy to "conflate" politics, newscasting and comedy nowadays, hasn't it?
Even though Jon Stewart has far too much credibility for politics, Mr. Williams certainly doesn't, so he ought to consider running for the Senate from Connecticut against Richard Blumenthal in 2016. Just watching them compare war stories on a debate stage would make it all worth it.
Even though Jon Stewart has far too much credibility for politics, Mr. Williams certainly doesn't, so he ought to consider running for the Senate from Connecticut against Richard Blumenthal in 2016. Just watching them compare war stories on a debate stage would make it all worth it.
7
Could the decline in news reporting have any relation to the conversion, on many college campuses, from Journalism programs to (easier?) Communications programs?
Jon Stewart may have proven that neither college program is necessary to succeed as long as one has a keen intellect and strong curiosity. Will truly miss him.
Those fed up with news shows that confuse 'pop culture' with news should check out the CBS morning shows. That on Sundays will keep you calmer than the political offerings.
Jon Stewart may have proven that neither college program is necessary to succeed as long as one has a keen intellect and strong curiosity. Will truly miss him.
Those fed up with news shows that confuse 'pop culture' with news should check out the CBS morning shows. That on Sundays will keep you calmer than the political offerings.
5
King Lear never listened to his wise fool to make policy And our benighted country will not make policy according to our wise Jon Stewart. So we will be left to howl into the storm of our own making wishing that we could have made wiser decisions ala our departing wise fool, Jon Stewart.
57
It's sad that "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" provided more real news than the networks.
108
I always felt that in these shows and the comedy generated were essentially spoofs of people in very powerful positions who have no sense of humor and take themselves far too seriously.
5
Yes, I’ve loved Jon Stewart, when I could manage to stay up late enough to watch the show.
But I have to say that I have grown increasingly frustrated over the years, that we seem to be content to articulate all the ills of government and the disinformation promulgated by the conventional news media – content to say and hear it like it is, while we sit and do nothing about it.
But I have to say that I have grown increasingly frustrated over the years, that we seem to be content to articulate all the ills of government and the disinformation promulgated by the conventional news media – content to say and hear it like it is, while we sit and do nothing about it.
9
Actually, Senator Franken is actually still extremely funny in person. He just doesn't mug for the camera anymore.
17
Maybe, he will take-over Brian Williams' perch. Then we would'nt have to worry about getting real news with real honesty. If only wishes were horses beggars would ride.
10
Tim Eagan is a national treasure i his own right...This is a column that gets it all the way about the failings of our talking heads, the idiocy and repetitiveness of the so called evening news...and the central failure of the networks to actually report, critique and make sense of the ongoing shenanigans on the political stage.
14
Who is Jon Stewart?
Take that you Ryandian rabble!
Take that you Ryandian rabble!
3
I was discussing Jon Stewart's departure announcement earlier today with my wife, for the umpteenth time this week, and I was struck by how closely our feelings tracked a pattern of true grieving. Jon joked the other night that he felt like the public was taking the news as a sort of death announcement, but at the risk of sounding melodramatic, the only thing I've experienced in my life that feels analogous (if more intense, obviously) is the loss of loved ones.
I know that sounds insane, and Jon himself would be the first to bust my chops for saying it, but I continue to be shocked at that magnitude of loss I feel when I think about losing the the constant, nightly polestar of Jon's wit and reason. I cannot think of a cultural loss that I have felt as keenly as this one, and it hasn't even occurred yet. Jon Stewart's voice truly made America, and the World, a better place. The loss is enormous.
Thank you for everything you've done for us, Jon. You have provided so much light in dark times. I can't even begin to describe how much you will be missed.
I know that sounds insane, and Jon himself would be the first to bust my chops for saying it, but I continue to be shocked at that magnitude of loss I feel when I think about losing the the constant, nightly polestar of Jon's wit and reason. I cannot think of a cultural loss that I have felt as keenly as this one, and it hasn't even occurred yet. Jon Stewart's voice truly made America, and the World, a better place. The loss is enormous.
Thank you for everything you've done for us, Jon. You have provided so much light in dark times. I can't even begin to describe how much you will be missed.
26
Hear hear!
1
I found it impossible to watch broadcast news or even PBS after Bush (with Congress) declared war on Iraq. Also many NY Times' columnists (viz., Tom Friedman) used an "off-hand" rational to justify George Bush's call to war. At this time, my 27 yr old nephew said, "Aunt Judy - watch Jon Stuart." At first I thought it ridiculous, but watching the program, I immediately saw how Jon, through his persona and exquisite satire, made real news bearable. Mr Stewart is a genius who obviously cares about this country. When it comes to telling the truth about what's happening in the US today, no one can touch this brilliant man whom we have come to trust.
24
In same week, we lose John Stewart from the Daily Show and Bob Simon forever. Both men afflicted the comfortable and comforted the afflicted. Stewart did it with a sharp wit. Simon did it with a level of journalistic courage, excellence and integrity that is so rare today.
Best of luck to Mr. Stewart. And RIP to Mr. Simon and condolences to his family.
Best of luck to Mr. Stewart. And RIP to Mr. Simon and condolences to his family.
17
The problem with all of those who say that we need to hold the main stream media to higher standards is that there is a source that DOES maintain higher standards, the PBS Newshour, and very few people watch. Why would other media sources follow that lead?
We don't need to fix the news media, we need to fix the news media consumers.
We don't need to fix the news media, we need to fix the news media consumers.
17
Notwithstanding the 'with-it' newsreaders, the guy generates very little interest west of I-95 and east of I-5.
I don't have his numbers but I'd guess they're up in the halcyon and rarified air of Mr. Matthews.
I don't have his numbers but I'd guess they're up in the halcyon and rarified air of Mr. Matthews.
2
I am in the Midwest an watch every night.
3
Well, your simply wrong if you think tradional TV ratings services reflect the impact of Jon Stewart's work in this age of social media worldwide. We're out here in the real and wider world beyond your borders. Jon Stewart not only entertains and informs us, he reminds us that intelligent life does exist in America while wattching the rest of your news media makes the opposite arguement. Be thankful for what he's done for your country's image in this era.
3
Wrong! Here off I-35 both Stewart & Colbert are very popular. There was huge competition to get into the live audience when he did a week from Texas last year.
Having lived the first half of my life in the eastern half of the country, I know that's hard for you to believe, but, yes, there is life, humor, and liberalism in the middle of the country.
Having lived the first half of my life in the eastern half of the country, I know that's hard for you to believe, but, yes, there is life, humor, and liberalism in the middle of the country.
2
It was all foretold in "Network" several decades ago. Currently, in the context of the tragedy in North Carolina, the Mainstream Media had not reported that the local police proactively had asked the FBI to investigate the possibility of a hate crime. Instead, they played the tabloid game of speculating about such a motive, thereby leading to a great deal of anti-American twittering. Sarah Palin might update her performance to indicate that the "lamestream" media and the Fox News crowd of mental institution outpatients are becoming indistinct.
29
With Stewart and Colbert gone I will have to go search for America on the New Jersey Turnpike....
What a prospect?
What a prospect?
5
Or waiting on line at the GWB!
Stewart wouldn't get through the door? Seriously? There would be no end to the line of people waiting to hold the door open for him.
11
An excellent and deserving tribute to Jon Stewart, Mr. Egan. Thanks.
Bill Clinton asked the question many of us have been asking: “Where will I get my news every night?”
Am hoping and praying that Stewart will not ride off into the sunset. We need him to help us to keep in touch with what is really going on in our world.
Thanks to him we all see much better.
Bill Clinton asked the question many of us have been asking: “Where will I get my news every night?”
Am hoping and praying that Stewart will not ride off into the sunset. We need him to help us to keep in touch with what is really going on in our world.
Thanks to him we all see much better.
15
Jon Stewart really owes a debt of gratitude to the Bachelor of Arts degree. Brian Williams so-called fall from grace exemplifies the state of American journalism, as the phrase 'Slick Willie' exemplifies modern polemics. For far too long, journalism has become obsessed with the 'narrative'. Brian Williams couldn't just ride in a helicopter while covering a war, he had to create a dramatic 'narrative' that sells, that inspires. Every minute in America, journalism - and politicians - write narratives as though they were pitching to an agent (Don Lemon, Nancy, Grace, Jeanine Pirro, Rachel Maddow). Instead of being based in empiricism journalists are fixated on visceral drama and turn of phrase. Instead of embracing empiricism Clinton is declaring 'I feel your pain', McCain's vowing to 'kill em' and Ernst's wrapping her feet in bread bags.
When journalists stop trying to be novelists and politicians stop trying to be journalists trying to be novelists - the Daily Show will be void of material.
But that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
When journalists stop trying to be novelists and politicians stop trying to be journalists trying to be novelists - the Daily Show will be void of material.
But that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
7
Don Lemon asking seriously if the missing Malaysian jet could have been downed by supernatural means!
1
Sadly true.
Sorry. Rachel Maddow in no way deserves to be lumped in with that company.
2
Even though Viacom owns Comedy Central, there was no apparent censorship of Stewart, Colbert, et al. The standard fair of Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN is very predictable and follows a uniform format: entertainment by celebrity news anchors. Stewart was not always entertaining, but he always informed on subjects ignored by corporate media. Bill Clinton worries where he will get the "real" news. We should worry where out democracy is going.
15
This problem would go away if America would just tune out for about a month, seriously, just stop watching any cable or network "news" shows and I use that term lightly. Then the powers that be that own the "shows" would have to listen when their sponsors burn up the phone lines with a cry heard round the world. We still have enormous power in our hands or finger tips as it were. We stopped watching any cable or network news. Why should we waste our limited time watching or listening to these faux news sites that don't report anything of value or substance and are paid to keep the great divide going purely for profit. Their are great reads out there on the internet and still a few good periodicals like the Economist that actually report the news and help the average person make sense of an increasingly complex world. You certainly won't get that from Bill O'Riley or Rachel Maddow, both shills for their respective political class and persuasion. Just turn it off and see what happens.
6
You should also tune off the ranting cable shows for another reason: your own mental well-being. They produce nothing of worth.
1
Can we Times readers who are not completely leftist in ideology have our own columnist? I mean, you liberals get to have these one-sided columns that do nothing more than mock Republicans based on Democratic talking points (does Mr. Egan even know that there is another side to the issues he presents?). We moderate or conservative readers get Mr. Brooks and Mr. Douthat, but they at least try to be balanced and respectful of the other side's views. So, how about it? Can we get like an Ann Coulter column or something to balance out this stuff from Egan?
3
No, you can't get that. You can have an Ann Coulter column, but not to balance things out. To provide an off the rails rant and a shovel full of lies every couple of days, yes. But not for balance.
4
Ann Coulter? Seriously? That's the best you can do? I feel very bad for you.
She will never have a column in the Times. I'll let you guess as to why. But it won't be the answer you come up with.
She will never have a column in the Times. I'll let you guess as to why. But it won't be the answer you come up with.
5
Ann Coulter? Wow.
3
I have no doubt that Jon Stewart will continue to walk us through the political minefields, the sorry state of Journalism (especially TV), the unending schemes of the rich and infamous, and all the other hypocrisy out there spining yarns and fables to sucker the masses. Plus let's not forget that Stephen Colbert is going to "Late Night". We will not be devoid of the comedian role of truthiness from some of the other 11:30 comics who'll probably feel free to borrow some schtick from the "Daily Show". The big question in my mind is who is going to replace Jon on the show. Jon Oliver did a great job as fill in replacemet host. But whomever, the game remains the same: Calling out bigshots in whatever arena they strut so as to remind us all of being human, more humble, and certainly less dishonest in and on the public stage and airwaves.
7
Calling out the bigshots ... Well put!
1
"It (Fox News) was part of what made a great democracy harder to govern, and less likely to share a common narrative."
says Egan
Egan is not describing a democracy in these words but an autocracy. There Egan would find the control of people and conformity of opinion that he seeks.
says Egan
Egan is not describing a democracy in these words but an autocracy. There Egan would find the control of people and conformity of opinion that he seeks.
3
Fox "news" deliberately and consistently misinforms the public. The well-read are not fooled whereas the low intelligence, poor and elderly are easily taken in by this propaganda.
14
Fox's mantra, Fair and Balanced, is more correctly named, Divide and Conquer.
2
Al Franken left his humor at the Capitol entrance? Not his sense of humor, but I believe that when he arrived at the Senate, he descended into a Boschian scene in which maintaining any semblance of a good nature is extremely difficult.
10
it is ironic that john stewart, who will perhaps be best remembered for his insightfulv erbal evisceration of the politcal pundit 'discussion' format on Crossfire (and the Sunday 'news' shows, MSNBC and FOX) did in fact, 'hurt' America more than any of these shows. He exposed politics and politicians for their cupidity and stupidity better than anyone else. As a libertarian who does NOT want to government to work (as Will Rogers said ""The difference between a politician and a pickpocket is that a pickpocket doesn't always get indignant when you tell him to keep his hands to himself.", i thank him for destroying the delusions of Americans about the inherently corrupt political process.
7
Stewart for Prez in 16! Of course that is why he is stepping down...
13
I'm so sorry Jon Stewart is leaving. I wish he could put up with it a little longer. We need him.
8
By far the best Stewart "Obit" I've read so far, and there's been so many.
4
In the novel that Kurt Vonnegutt once called the greatest in history, a man from Mars could not understand why people laugh. Then one day, at a zoo, he watched as a defeated, beaten primate took solace in beating a smaller primate into submission. Michael Valentine Smith burst out laughing, for the first time. He understood, finally.
Heinlein's insight has been Stewart's launching pad. He hasn't just made us laugh. He has rubbed our noses in the agonizing absurdity all around us. Oh god did we need it.
Heinlein's insight has been Stewart's launching pad. He hasn't just made us laugh. He has rubbed our noses in the agonizing absurdity all around us. Oh god did we need it.
27
That novel was "Stranger in a Strange Land" and was written by Robert Heinlein.
6
Looks as though I stepped into a Fox News hate fest.
7
Calling Fox what they truly are and aspire to be is not a "hate fest", it is an accurate description of who they are and who they want to be. I say again, it is not hateful to describe Fox accurately.
1
"Fox News hate fest"...pretty much covers how I feel about that so called "network".
5
You know, if lefties REALLY believed that Fox News was so ludicrous, backwards and stupid -- they would not fear them this way, with constant attacks.
We don't quake in fear at the word of Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church, because he's a flaming nutjob nobody takes serious. We don't get our panties in a twist thinking "people will believe him! and join his congregation!"
So think about WHY the left and this publication constantly fear and lambast Fox News, which is a third place also-ran network compared to ABC, NBC and CBS (all slanting liberal).
We don't quake in fear at the word of Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church, because he's a flaming nutjob nobody takes serious. We don't get our panties in a twist thinking "people will believe him! and join his congregation!"
So think about WHY the left and this publication constantly fear and lambast Fox News, which is a third place also-ran network compared to ABC, NBC and CBS (all slanting liberal).
4
Excellent column. As Fox never had any credibility and MSNBC lost its credibility hiring Sharpton and being unwilling to criticize the left's sacred cows, such as Michael Moore, Stewart was the only place for honest criticism of the left and the right.
7
Say it ain't so!
I will miss Stewart's work. More than anything, I will miss his ability to make social change through his humor and compassion.
His interviews with New York first responders asking for federal benefits were inspired. So too were his segments on the god-awful treatment of our veterans returning home from war.
Let's hope someone else steps up to the plate and helps make similar contributions to our society.
Where have you gone, Jon Stewart?
I will miss Stewart's work. More than anything, I will miss his ability to make social change through his humor and compassion.
His interviews with New York first responders asking for federal benefits were inspired. So too were his segments on the god-awful treatment of our veterans returning home from war.
Let's hope someone else steps up to the plate and helps make similar contributions to our society.
Where have you gone, Jon Stewart?
18
Egan should turn the microscope on the Times and its embrace of Obama's militarism and its longing for Hillary's "muscular" foreign policy.
4
I was wondering who was going to come out of the woodwork to try to connect this story about Jon Stewart to Obama and Hillary. You people never give up!
5
Brilliant! thanks! -It's accepted science that early religious indoctrination before a young child's brain is fully developed seriously degrades a capacity for nuanced thinking and appreciation for irony and satire.
Whether in islamic countries or The American Bible Belt with the politicians it engenders -the fallout in mental degradation is palpable!
Whether in islamic countries or The American Bible Belt with the politicians it engenders -the fallout in mental degradation is palpable!
11
Yes, and the most severe indoctrination is...lefty liberalism.
2
I would not edit a word in this commentary. All true.
10
During the Bush II years (and wars), I often wondered if I or the majority of America had gone crazy. It had to be one or the other.
I turned to Stewart and Colbert for comfort: if I were indeed the crazy one, at least I was in good company. "Good" in every sense of the word.
I turned to Stewart and Colbert for comfort: if I were indeed the crazy one, at least I was in good company. "Good" in every sense of the word.
27
Conservatives not funny? They are hilarious!
18
JS is the only person I know funnier than Palin!
2
Just not intentionally...
4
They don't know it though, no sense of humor...
2
I don't agree that Stewart is a lefty without a cause; Egan probably doesn't either. At 68, I am not the typical demographic associated with The Daily Show, but my sensibilities are completely in line with Jon's: "Do undo others...", respect the earth and don't worship at the altar of mammon. And something about the truth.
I'll miss the bits, but not being tied to a TV show with a fair share of what feels like dead space to me. Jon is right to move on. He certainly has moved beyond needing to plug random books and movies. He obviously has a real interest in politics, history and what we might call the 99%. Now that he has achieved sainthood he has, like the Pope, a platform.
I'll miss the bits, but not being tied to a TV show with a fair share of what feels like dead space to me. Jon is right to move on. He certainly has moved beyond needing to plug random books and movies. He obviously has a real interest in politics, history and what we might call the 99%. Now that he has achieved sainthood he has, like the Pope, a platform.
32
Well said, Tim. What are your plans? Any newscasting in your future? How about you and Sarah Silverman team up to replace JS?
9
Silverman thinks she is funny but her foul mouth screams otherwise.
4
You were right the first time, and it's only Sarah who thinks Sarah is "funny".
Jon Stewart is my main news source, unvarnished and well documented, sort of like a comedic Edward R. Murrow. Even NPR these days has grown soft and mushy in a lot of their reporting.
22
And remember from the Blizzard Mobile it is not the real temperature, only the wind chill that counts, as Al breathlessly charges the " weather theater " screen each morning.
Brilliantly and insightfully written, thanks. Your column made me think of another singular comedian, Charlie Chaplin. It was Chaplin who critiqued poverty, modernity and fascism all the while amusing his audience. In a not-completely-similar way, Stewart has critiqued the information age, the one percent and American exceptionalism. Right beneath the appeal of each comedian is a world of tragedy, and maybe that's part of the enormous appeal. Their humor is a salve for things terribly wrong. Humor has never been a cure, nor less an opiate, but it gives us a unique perspective. Humor lays bare the absurdity of evil in a way that simply describing evil does not. Stewart's career is proof you can tell jokes and tell the truth at the same time. Most politicians can't seem to do either. While Stewart is irreplaceable, we all of course hope he will be replaced because we need to laugh at the insanity around us as we work to overcome it.
17
Couldn't have said it better...reality of all in one nut shell. Thanks.
3
Excellent article...exposing Jon Stewart for what he really is...a genius satirist.
9
Yes, we will miss Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but we still have John Oliver- another brilliant mind ranting about & poking fun at the hypocrisy.
18
One of the occupational hazards of satirizing and/or making comedic hash from the everyday news is an eventual cynicism exemplified by a bit of anger leaking out to the audience at some point during the schtick. Carlin, Bruce and others appeared quite "discontented" during their latter years.
I sensed this was happening to JoStew as well - he may, as he has so frequently over the past 16 years, have known when enough was enough.
I sensed this was happening to JoStew as well - he may, as he has so frequently over the past 16 years, have known when enough was enough.
2
Perhaps Jon is being vetted as VP for Hillary! That would bring 100% of his fans to the ballot box. We'll know if he shows up in Iowa.
3
The uniqueness of Jon is that he could see "The Emperor has no clothes". That is what made he and his program special. I think his next endeavor will be to produce movies based on facts.
3
A career of pulling legacies. Thanks for the memorablies!
3
Best piece on Stewart I've read all week. We will miss him dearly.
7
It's gotten to the point we don't need Stewart any more to mock Fox News.
Not when we're treated to the hilarious sight of Fox's Megyn Kelly delivering a straight-faced lecture about and to Brian Williams about how important it is for a journalist to maintain integrity and a strict adherence to facts.
Who need comedy shows when we've got Fox News?
Not when we're treated to the hilarious sight of Fox's Megyn Kelly delivering a straight-faced lecture about and to Brian Williams about how important it is for a journalist to maintain integrity and a strict adherence to facts.
Who need comedy shows when we've got Fox News?
22
Dang! I missed that. I wonder, did she include instructions on how to dress as a professional news anchor too?
1
Good point that conservatives aren't funny. Not the conservatives of today anyway. Wanna know why? Because you have to be smart to be funny.
19
Jon Stewart was and is the best! I've watched him from day 1, mostly to make my day with laughter, which is the best medicine. We do have late night talk show hosts, but for the last 15 years no one could beat Jon (maybe Steven comes close, but I watched him too). I will surely miss him. Hopefully he will continue do something innovative in comedy. I need my daily medicine.
5
I think it's pretty telling that I don't think Brian Williams is much of a loss to the national discourse and over time he'll just be replaced by somebody else and forgotten, but not Jon Stewart. He might not have been aiming to do anything but make us laugh, and I don't think the majority of people would mistake him for a journalist, but in the end he certainly made us think, at times he even educated us, and he was often the first one to yell that the emperor was naked. He might have done those things with a few four letter words and a smirk thrown in, but he does them, and in a time when few others can make that claim. His departure only highlights the pathetic state of most of what now passes as "news". Stewart has indeed been a public service when most news in this country has become a public embarrassment.
283
Editorial comment, even when amusing, is still journalism.
No Jon Stewart for the 2016 elections. Disappointing and unimaginable!
9
John Stewart, you shall run for public office. It is a given.
4
Funny. What I found most interesting is in the last seven studies which were all done by non-partisan, independent survey groups on viewers knowledge of facts in current events, foreign and domestic policy and the facts were cut and dry, NPR listeners was always top and Jon Stewarts audience or the N.Y Times readers...one of them were always in the top 3. Guess who's audience was dead last in every study on every subject. Fox. It's no wonder he used Fox all the time and why the right wing doesn't like Stewart. On "some" of the studies MSNBCs audience was not much better than Fox but those who got their news from Fox were more misinformed than any other news source.
18
If I recall correctly, Fox viewers came in behind people who didn't watch or read any news at all.
4
And you do recall correctly. Fox viewers less informed than people who watched or read no news at all. That should say it all
2
This may be irrational optimism, but I'm wondering if the end of Stewart will initiate rejection of the big three cable news (CNN, FOX, MSNBC), none of which has a great audience, and all of which specialize in un-funny and perversely annoying rants. For anyone suspecting that news in general was being dictated by those sources, Stewart's humor was a powerful antidote that avoided the necessity of a vow of "never again".
If it does, it would be a remarkable book end to the effect of Brian William's withdrawal. Legacy broadcast network news has been telling the lie that they are "Journalism" for so long, that they continued believing it, even when the last vestiges of it were long-dead. In the absence of a Stewart, who tended to confer credibility even while ridiculing, these networks may now be free to stop the pretense that they are anything but entertainment.
If it does, it would be a remarkable book end to the effect of Brian William's withdrawal. Legacy broadcast network news has been telling the lie that they are "Journalism" for so long, that they continued believing it, even when the last vestiges of it were long-dead. In the absence of a Stewart, who tended to confer credibility even while ridiculing, these networks may now be free to stop the pretense that they are anything but entertainment.
5
Cable news shows will never drop their pretense but their audience numbers will drop as people realize they are useless as a source for news after the first five minutes viewed once a day. The rest is musak-like filler because real reporting is hard work and expensive.
Anyone who relies on tv, except stewart, for news is fooling themselves. I never watch tv news except for the weather forecast-record it and zip to the weather. My news comes from newspapers, primarily the Times.
4
You are correct.
Unfortunately, most Americans apparently do not read.
Unfortunately, most Americans apparently do not read.
3
Well said , Mr.Egan. The recent kerfuffle with Brian Williams and the daily buffoonery at Fox "news" is proof that we now receive a version of facts . The Today show, once a great place to start the day, has become a tawdry fragment of its former self. Jon Stewart made no pretense about the humor factor on his show but the glaring truths he presented made many of us realize how vapid the
purported "news" outlets have become.
purported "news" outlets have become.
6
We need people like Jon Stewart and we need political satire because it always has a ring of truth to it. Why do you think the Fox Unnews people go nuts whenever they're highlighted on The Daily Show? Not because they're being mocked, but because their lies are exposed.
8
Jon Stewart would hate me for saying this, but Jon Stewart is a true American hero. He pointed to truth and mocked those who lie to us, straight faced, every night on every news outlet in the country. He skewered friend and foe alike. Just look at his friends Anthony Weiner and Brian Williams.... I'm quite sure he's not exactly on their friends list anymore. Jon is and always has been an equal opportunity satirist with no particular axe to grind, and that's what makes him great.... and necessary in our world. Please don't go far Jon, we NEED you!!
18
I guess this is just another reason for me to renew my subscription to The Nation magazine, whose reporters asked the hard questions that the mainstream media wouldn't touch, and on which pages I read the challenges to the Bush administrations assertions about yellow cake uranium and Iraq's stockpiles of WMD long before they were reported anywhere else. Jon Stewart added levity with the truth-telling that provided a media weary public a reason to listen. We could at least laugh at bit before we cried. I hope he will continue his career in public service, for indeed, that is what he provided.
14
Someone come up with a good verb to commemorate Jon Stewart. Like, "That editorial jonstewed the Speaker good for his claim that he cares about the middle class."
8
Stewbeefed! "Boy, McCain got thoroughly Stewbeefed after suggesting we invade Alberta"
1
Jon is retiring but not his excellent writing team. Maybe some of Colbert's writers can come back. The fodder of material for the show is increasing all the time.
Jon is a great performer, who projected his humanity so beautifully.
But the Daily Show will live on.
Jon is a great performer, who projected his humanity so beautifully.
But the Daily Show will live on.
5
I have enjoyed watching Jon Stewart. On occaision, he would take both sides of the isle to task. We realize that Politicians take themselves incredibly serious and there are times when they should be questioned about the absurdity of their statements. Many times truth is revealed through wit and sarcasm.
3
I met he news director for the Daily Show, and I was amazed how seriously he and Jon Stewart (and the rest of the cast, actually) took the show. They knew they were the primary source of news for many people (even though they said they shouldn't be), so they really tried to inform the public. I don't think most people realize how hard they had to work, because Jon Stewart made it look so easy.
I am amazed how a supposedly comic show took reporting and balance seriously, and treated news figures with respect while viciously mocking them. In many ways, they have more objectivity, insight, and humor (obviously) than the editorials on the NY Times.
Jon will be missed.
I am amazed how a supposedly comic show took reporting and balance seriously, and treated news figures with respect while viciously mocking them. In many ways, they have more objectivity, insight, and humor (obviously) than the editorials on the NY Times.
Jon will be missed.
10
This article is funnier than anything that I've ever heard Jon Stewart say. Have any of you commenters, or you Mr. Egan, ever even watched Fox News? The lack of intellectual curiosity on the left is astounding. You all think you know conservatives so well because you believe what shills like Mr. Stewart say, and when you actually talk to one you get so emotional that you learn nothing. Much easier to buy into the caricature, than to actually do the work. We know you guys better than you do and you guys know nothing about us, that's the problem.
6
Oh yes, we watch, at least occasionally, if only to see how bad it can get. Late last year, I was staying with my ill mother, who had Fox News on (all day long, acckckck!) They spent the entire day screaming EBOLA!!!! (Obama was going to make sure we all got it, I think), with some other very non-factual (Benghazi?) type references thrown in. There is a reason Fox viewers come in dead last in terms of their knowledge of actual "facts" in the real world.
4
There really is nothing to learn from a bogus TV show called Fox News. I've tried to watch and it offers nothing but irritation and untruthful "facts".
5
JP, all lefties need to know is that ONE measly TV network DARES to present something other than the official, left-liberal paradigm and it's talking points -- that's treason, by god! they won't be satisfied until there is one official lefty network (as they want only ONE political party, as in California!) and every message is on point and "politically correct".
2
The Golden Era of Fake News is Over? Huh? What planet do you live on?
1
What I recall best was when Jon returned to TV after 9/11. He was in tears, and asked us all, 'Are you OK?'
I wasn't. I became a vegetable watching cable news 24 hours a day for weeks until normal programming returned. Shock set in after my son called when the first tower fell to say he was OK; he had been working downtown that day but not too near. My brother-in-law was missing; he suffered severe head injuries from debris and was ferried to NJ and in medically-induced coma for two weeks; We had no idea till he awoke and we were contacted.
Jon did us all a wonderful favor by helping us heal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXcmc2AZ6ZE
I wasn't. I became a vegetable watching cable news 24 hours a day for weeks until normal programming returned. Shock set in after my son called when the first tower fell to say he was OK; he had been working downtown that day but not too near. My brother-in-law was missing; he suffered severe head injuries from debris and was ferried to NJ and in medically-induced coma for two weeks; We had no idea till he awoke and we were contacted.
Jon did us all a wonderful favor by helping us heal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXcmc2AZ6ZE
126
Thank you for that. I love John Stewart. But one thing he said was too optimistic. He said we won. But in actuality, the terrorists did. Americans panicked and gave up all kinds of rights and freedoms. Our government now spies on our every communication, no matter the media. Our armies make unnecessary wars creating more enemies. This is the real tragedy of 9/11. FDR said "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself." And we have become a nation of fearful people. What happened to the land of the brave? Was it snuffed out so easily? Apparently yes. I miss my country.
2
Thank you for sharing that. That is the compassionate, intelligent and articulate presence I will miss.
here.s watching to you!
I'm sure I speak for many in saying that NBC has already found a replacement for Brian Williams. If only they'll ask.
88
The 'problem' might be that Jon would be at the mercy of the corporate greed. He would be compelled to follow the script. He would never do that. I am not certain, but I think he and his team had a certain amount of autonomy and was not entirely beholden to the powers that be. He is his own person, had his own agenda, and is far too intelligent to be on news that sells and endorses lies.
3
They won't. They want a corporate puppet.
on your way to there, will you think of him while you cross country sky, though?
Timothy Egan, another excellent essay. You have your own sense of humor which reads as natural and unforced, not an attempt to compete with Jon Stewart or anyone else.
It's hard to see any one person filling the vacuum or replacing Stewart in a continuation of the show, but perhaps he, Colbert, and others have changed our expectations enough that there will be some form of unmuzzled critique always fighting against passive acceptance of biased and simplistic news media (Fox being the quintessential example). The humor of the Daily Show was an important component, and I hope that is kept alive somewhere, in this world where humor is a necessity for survival of sanity.
It's hard to see any one person filling the vacuum or replacing Stewart in a continuation of the show, but perhaps he, Colbert, and others have changed our expectations enough that there will be some form of unmuzzled critique always fighting against passive acceptance of biased and simplistic news media (Fox being the quintessential example). The humor of the Daily Show was an important component, and I hope that is kept alive somewhere, in this world where humor is a necessity for survival of sanity.
7
I never watched Jon Stewart's show but watched him appear on other guest's shows. I never found him to be funny but rather crude and in poor taste. I enjoyed watching the old Crossfire with Robert Novak, Pat Buchanan, Bill Press, etc. It was lively and yet very informative. By the way, Pat Buchanan and Robert Novak were both very much against the Iraq War.
I do not understand why so many people find Jon Stewart amusing. I guess it tells you the state of our world today and how we have reached the lowest common denominator.
We once had quality programming and I do think we can obtain this standard again if we really try. We can and should expect better and hopefully our young people today will lead the way. I have been fortunate to speak to some really lovely young adults and I know they will succeed in this venture. They also want high standards again for our world.
I do not understand why so many people find Jon Stewart amusing. I guess it tells you the state of our world today and how we have reached the lowest common denominator.
We once had quality programming and I do think we can obtain this standard again if we really try. We can and should expect better and hopefully our young people today will lead the way. I have been fortunate to speak to some really lovely young adults and I know they will succeed in this venture. They also want high standards again for our world.
17
He wasn't funny all the time, but he had his hilarious moments. He was, at least, amusing many times.
Is this Mitt Romney?
7
You say in the first paragraph that you never watched Jon Stewarts show and in the second that you don't understand why people find him amusing!
See what watching Fox News has done to your brain?
See what watching Fox News has done to your brain?
13
In a submitted comment that never appeared, Jon Stewart was nominated to chair a civilian review board (originally named "bored"). It was to be crowd-funded and devoid of government, corporate and oligarchal influence. The idea was to provide independent, arm's length oversight on the federal government in terms of unexplained or unexplainable actions that negatively affect the general welfare or more colorfully, try and get the emperor to put some pants on, zip it up and stop the rampage.
3
With Stewart and Colbert gone, I only have the Capitol Steps to rely on.
5
I wonder how many of those praising Stewart eschew voting, I fear it is many. Wake up people.
8
I love Stewart - and Colbert - and I vote. And I'm despondent over their leaving. Who's going to go after the dangerous nut jobs at Fox News now? There's no news left to watch, certainly not that theater that is Network News.
2
When we get a second party, I'll start voting. What are the two main differences between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.? The U.S. never made you go to the polls and vote, but the bad guys still always won. There were always more people incarcerated in the U.S.
Basic game theory tells us that when there are two competitors, their optimal positioning is smack beside each other in the middle. Imagine a one-street town with two gas stations; what would happen if one was dead center in town, but the other out on the edge of town?
And any third party trying to get a start will merely siphon votes from the nearest party, handing success to their opponents.
Once we've gotten to two parties, we're locked in to the current setup.
And any third party trying to get a start will merely siphon votes from the nearest party, handing success to their opponents.
Once we've gotten to two parties, we're locked in to the current setup.
The material is endless:
Brian Williams. Obama and Congress fighting over how to declare war. A cease fire in the Ukraine where no one ceases firing. An endless fight over one pipeline when there are thousands of others.
If you're a Stewart fan, do your own riff. Jon would be proud. And you wouldn't miss him so much.
Brian Williams. Obama and Congress fighting over how to declare war. A cease fire in the Ukraine where no one ceases firing. An endless fight over one pipeline when there are thousands of others.
If you're a Stewart fan, do your own riff. Jon would be proud. And you wouldn't miss him so much.
5
I don't watch Mr Stewart regularly, but always enjoy him when I do.
I do have to comment on the "mostly operating as platforms for new pharmaceuticals." comment. I'm old enough to remember Edward R Morrow, Uncle Walter and Huntley Brinkley where you had real pertinent news and commentary. Network news today is fluff and more fluff and it is "Dope TV" and not the good kind!
I do have to comment on the "mostly operating as platforms for new pharmaceuticals." comment. I'm old enough to remember Edward R Morrow, Uncle Walter and Huntley Brinkley where you had real pertinent news and commentary. Network news today is fluff and more fluff and it is "Dope TV" and not the good kind!
12
The demographic for national nightly news is obvious from the non- stop pharma ads. The woman in the blue dress selling ED products is just weird. The "warnings" about 4 hour erections is a hilariously cynical and deliberate targeting of a certain demographic.
3
Are you old enough to remember "Person to Person"?
Where can we see Bill O'Really now? My TV might explode if I tune it to Faux News.
5
Stewart is an American treasure, a sane voice crying in a wilderness of shame and lies. His absence leaves us bereft. He was a noble (and hilarious) presence who can never be replaced.
35
Am I the only one hoping John Oliver comes back?
7
Yes. Yes, you are. With Samantha Bee and Aasif Mandvi on the show, I never understood why Stewart picked Oliver for the job when he went on hiatus. He's amusing but Oliver's guest interviews were wretched.
He is back and better than ever on HBO.
3
You can see him in the John Oliver Show on HBO.
1
Jon Stewart will leave a vacuum for sure. I haven't watched 'regular' news (or Sunday shows) for years.
But a suggestion for network news after Brian Williams - get rid of the way-too-highly paid anchors; hire, and pay fir more real journalists and more foreign news bureaus and get 'news readers' to present what journalists uncover. Then you might get me, and others like me, back.
But a suggestion for network news after Brian Williams - get rid of the way-too-highly paid anchors; hire, and pay fir more real journalists and more foreign news bureaus and get 'news readers' to present what journalists uncover. Then you might get me, and others like me, back.
14
They don't want you back, they want the audience they get. Those people vote for the fellows who run for office and think there's a difference between the candidates. If anything, you should expect to get Ellen DeGeneres or Oprah as an anchor one of these days.
2
The only news on TV besides Jon Stewart is on Al-Jazeera. But the looks, scoffs, and comments I get when I tell my friends are hilarious. Its' a Muslim station, it's a terrorist propaganda station, they think the NSA will arrest them for watching. We have evolved from an open minded society to a closed minded one. and it is not pretty.
29
I agree with you, but here's the thing that tells about the U.S. Media in the Al-Jazeera story. They couldn't get on Comcast for years. Finally, they bought some lousy network that Al Gore owned for a few hundred million dollars, re-branded it and then they got on my Comcast feed. That's the sort of story Jon Stewart might tell: about the Mr. Green Solar Energy V.P. who put the fix in for Al-Jazeera to get on the cable networks and made out handsomely in the process.
3
I realize most people lead very busy lives parasailing, rock climbing, surfing, studying for college finals, throwing Koosh footballs in their tiny dorm rooms or working at the Piñata factory with overtime pay, although let's stop mixing up humor with journalism. Perhaps the time is now for the U.S. to add an in-depth TV nightly documentary that counters the corporate news propaganda on all the other 100 or so cable networks as well as ABC,NBC & CBS.
This new nightly documentary could feature in-depth reporting on global as well as national events similar to the quality news shows in England like BBC 1,2,3. Believe it or not, the American TV viewing public may have the capacity for long term attention spans to stay tuned to such shows. In order to maintain the college age crowd, perhaps every few minutes a little hand puppet could pop out behind a sofa and say something funny then cut to the commercial in order to fund the show. This is just an idea and I realize how silly the little joking hand puppet sounds to a serious person.
This new nightly documentary could feature in-depth reporting on global as well as national events similar to the quality news shows in England like BBC 1,2,3. Believe it or not, the American TV viewing public may have the capacity for long term attention spans to stay tuned to such shows. In order to maintain the college age crowd, perhaps every few minutes a little hand puppet could pop out behind a sofa and say something funny then cut to the commercial in order to fund the show. This is just an idea and I realize how silly the little joking hand puppet sounds to a serious person.
4
The people who pay to produce television don't think there's enough intelligent people out there for them to make money from. Thus, we have Duck Dynasty and the Kardashians, and PBS for the rest of us (which is going downhill too for lack of funding)
4
Sounds like you're talking about Vice News on HBO.
1
@Gabriel, exactly. Vice News is the most in-depth news coverage available on TV although is only aired once a week (or so.) Having lived in England, I realized upon my return to the States that not only is the U.S. filled with gas guzzling vehicles & endless freeways, but also an overabundance of glossy news like 60 Minutes. It's embarrassing and now I realize why the rest of the world looks down upon us as dullards.
3
“Where will I get my news every night?” asked Bill Clinton, in a tweet following Stewart’s announcement.
Maybe men like John Stewart wouldn't have to do real news disguised as comedy if Clinton and others elected to power would protect the American people from the wealthy, entitled, corporate-worshiping elitists who are destroying this country and who provide comic material for the Daily Show. You know, like NOT deregulating the media, removing the fairness doctrine, and rolling back decades of media ownership regulatory restrictions that opened the door to Fox News and every other corporatized entertainment conglomerate that now tries to pass off their product promotion and propaganda as "news". Clinton, more than any one else, should take a good hard look in the mirror when he asks the question "where am I going to get my news" (now that The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is gone). The answer is - "we don't know Bill, none of us". Thanks to you.
Maybe men like John Stewart wouldn't have to do real news disguised as comedy if Clinton and others elected to power would protect the American people from the wealthy, entitled, corporate-worshiping elitists who are destroying this country and who provide comic material for the Daily Show. You know, like NOT deregulating the media, removing the fairness doctrine, and rolling back decades of media ownership regulatory restrictions that opened the door to Fox News and every other corporatized entertainment conglomerate that now tries to pass off their product promotion and propaganda as "news". Clinton, more than any one else, should take a good hard look in the mirror when he asks the question "where am I going to get my news" (now that The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is gone). The answer is - "we don't know Bill, none of us". Thanks to you.
28
I too found it typically Clinton to attempt to insulate his criminal policies and destructive narcissism by the lame attempt to "be hip" and self-identify with Stewart. The guy is pathetic and repellent-Clinton and his money laundering org "The Clinton Foundation." About as real as George Costanza's phony charity The Human Fund.
5
Mr. Egan observes, “Conservatives, in general, are not funny…” This is because, in general, they do not know how to poke fun at their own, which is the Standup 101 of comedy. Conservatives are by definition serious and stuffy – also, it’s part of their DNA, which might as well be an acronym for Do Not Amuse, at least, not easily. So liberals do it for both sides, they seem to make more fun of conservatives only because they provide so much more material, and most liberal comedians are invariably self-deprecating in their humor.
Jon Stewart has taken his comedic talents to an art form – he is funny, smart, naturally self-deprecating, articulate, well versed on a variety of topics, a natural interviewer, very intelligent (different from being smart, and he masks his intelligence in order to not overwhelm either his guest or his audience), and most importantly, a lovable personality to both sexes. So this kind of complete package is going to be very difficult to replicate. It is a persona that needs to be cultivated over a period of time and with experience.
We will miss Jon Stewart in “Indecision 2016” but we will savor every episode from now until he signs off later this year. It’s another tribute to Jon Stewart’s acumen that he is going out while he is still on top, while his adoring fans are still wondering why?
Jon Stewart has taken his comedic talents to an art form – he is funny, smart, naturally self-deprecating, articulate, well versed on a variety of topics, a natural interviewer, very intelligent (different from being smart, and he masks his intelligence in order to not overwhelm either his guest or his audience), and most importantly, a lovable personality to both sexes. So this kind of complete package is going to be very difficult to replicate. It is a persona that needs to be cultivated over a period of time and with experience.
We will miss Jon Stewart in “Indecision 2016” but we will savor every episode from now until he signs off later this year. It’s another tribute to Jon Stewart’s acumen that he is going out while he is still on top, while his adoring fans are still wondering why?
30
And without Stewart, who will do spit-takes?
3
Jonathan Leibowitz (Jon Stewart) was often funny, but armchair ridicule is not exactly reporting nor, say, working as a doctor in Liberia. We have had political satire from Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, and the world of comedy including the Smothers Brothers and Rowan and Martin, all good stuff and in good supply with lots to work with nowadays.
1
The wonder is that he was able to do what he did at such a high level of excellence for 16 years! Jon Stewart's sense of the absurd is always spot on, as is his sense of decency. I can't wait to see where he goes and what he does next.
21
"I have often said, and oftener think, that this world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel — a solution of why Democritus laughed and Heraclitus wept." - Horace Walpole
This oft-quoted axiom does not usually include the references to the Greeks that Walpole used. Remember, Heraclitus was the philosopher of change, the one who famously said the one could not step into the same stream twice.
For those who weep at the change here - the loss of Stewart - you have my sympathy. But the fools of the Republican party remain fools, the humor remains, so chances are the stream will bring us another Stewart.
But wouldn't it be nice if the Republican Party changed?
This oft-quoted axiom does not usually include the references to the Greeks that Walpole used. Remember, Heraclitus was the philosopher of change, the one who famously said the one could not step into the same stream twice.
For those who weep at the change here - the loss of Stewart - you have my sympathy. But the fools of the Republican party remain fools, the humor remains, so chances are the stream will bring us another Stewart.
But wouldn't it be nice if the Republican Party changed?
8
"This oft-quoted axiom....?" Where do you hang out?
1
You can look it up - Wikipedia has it.
'Since the golden era of fake news is over'.
Oh brother! You must not Fox News much.
Oh brother! You must not Fox News much.
12
if jon stewart was one of the mob condemning obama for not flying to paris on a moment's notice to take part in a photo op "march" for free speech which quickly became the opposite as police ordered people to remove "i am not charlie hebdo" buttons, took in school children for questioing when they condemned charlie hebdo editors, jailed a comedian for controversial comments, and inspired a cnn "journalist" to say he was ashamed of america, he was wrong, and also missing a fat pinata of hypocrisy to whack at.
5
P. J. O'Rourke is funny? Who knew?
3
I think he was being far too kind to Ailes and left out the Nixonian and through Nixon McCarthyite roots of Mr Ailes outlook. That "Paranoid streak" isn't just plain fearfulness or xenophobia it is fear that the lower classes were rising up due to the much fairer distribution of money in the economy via wages and fair taxation for the companies getting rich off that society set to ensure they were literally invested in its welfare.
"He understood exactly what they were up to, even if some of their teleprompter readers never did."
It's a cute thought but the fact is many of those "readers" are magna cum laude college graduates who know full well exactly what they are doing to the poor unknowingly ignorant people trusting them to be relaying the truth to them.
Normalising such violations of trust is the greatest harm the GOP has done this nation. They quite intentionally broke the Trust model on which reason and rationalism and our system is based and got legal approval for doing so. Look up “Fox news has a First Amendment right to lie”
All of it in reaction to the Civil Rights and Voting Rights legislation that removed the formerly bullet proof “local control” that allowed locals to unfairly use the authority vested in the system to lift themselves up and keep others down, leaving "national" pols free to pretend they are not involved in such things or that "local issues" were to distant to affect, when it was the basis of the system they came up in.
"He understood exactly what they were up to, even if some of their teleprompter readers never did."
It's a cute thought but the fact is many of those "readers" are magna cum laude college graduates who know full well exactly what they are doing to the poor unknowingly ignorant people trusting them to be relaying the truth to them.
Normalising such violations of trust is the greatest harm the GOP has done this nation. They quite intentionally broke the Trust model on which reason and rationalism and our system is based and got legal approval for doing so. Look up “Fox news has a First Amendment right to lie”
All of it in reaction to the Civil Rights and Voting Rights legislation that removed the formerly bullet proof “local control” that allowed locals to unfairly use the authority vested in the system to lift themselves up and keep others down, leaving "national" pols free to pretend they are not involved in such things or that "local issues" were to distant to affect, when it was the basis of the system they came up in.
10
I have always thought Republicans play a very good long game. There seems to be a direct correlation between the death of the Fairness Doctrine and the ascendancy of Fox News. Jon Stewart always provided a sane counterpoint to the daily hyperbole of the Fox News echo chamber. He will be missed.
19
“A lefty without a cause” sums up exactly what Jon Stewart is and what passes for the liberal movement today. After a decade-and-a-half of satirizing the easily satirizable, Congress and half the states are dominated by a lunatic fringe and a charlatan like Rand Paul is considered a ‘statesman’. Sneering condescension and pillory may be emotionally satisfying for the comfortably cosmopolitan, but it’s not a political program and it inspires no one. Like the President, Stewart is offended by the moronic; and like the President, he’s a cipher. Conservatives offer Americans a vision filled with delusional evangelical fantasies, but at least they offer something. Liberals offer nothing more than mocking satire and policy bullet points.
5
Liberals offer nothing but satire? From the Left we have the GI Bill, Social Security, the Child and Earned Income Tax Credits, Public Healthcare, Public Education, Progressive Taxation of the Wealthy, Unemployment Insurance, Civil Rights, Women's Rights... from the Right we have... Trillions wasted on unnecessary wars, tax cuts and loopholes for Billionaire Plutocrats and their heirs, denial of science, protection of corporate interests at the expense of the public at every turn, and fierce opposition to nearly every civil rights movement, social issue, and government policy benefiting the middle and lower classes the past 100 years. ..
15
"Conservatives offer Americans a vision filled with delusional evangelical fantasies, but at least they offer something."
"Delusional evangelical fantasies aren't "something." They're less than nothing.
"Delusional evangelical fantasies aren't "something." They're less than nothing.
2
I am aware of the progressive victories of the past. Way back in the past when the liberal movement actually had a compelling vision for the future that working Americans could identify with. Today we have a liberal President who supported Boehner's budget gutting Dodd-Frank; filled his administration with Citigroup plutocrats and is spending trillions on the same Bush wars with no end in sight. Like his liberal predecessor Bill Clinton, every successive outrage against liberal principle is greeted with tawdry rationalizations or silence from self-described "lefty's". RM's response above sums it all up: sneering condescension is today's liberal substitute for yesterday's New Deal. Instead of a bold vision for social and economic equality, we get focus-group tested "issues" like 'free community college education' to increase electoral market share. That's not a movement, it's cliche.
2
The soul of wit; and I say that as an theist.
66
Is this a Blaise Pascal brainy quote gist?
1
If only I were that intellectual; more likely blaise blubbering at the loss of of perhaps the last relevant(fake or not) pundit pontificating on air, however much in vain. I failed to notice the typo until I posted. I meant to type 'atheist', obviously.
2
Kevin, even atheists must acknowledge the existence of souls. Otherwise how is it possible to look about us and see so many people selling theirs?
When I saw the first sentence in this article, "Since the golden era of fake news is over, does this mean that what passes for real news and real politics are also over?", I thought it could refer to Brian Williams. Journalism in the western world has reached a real moral crisis when it's difficult to tell which is which, fiction/dramatic acting or reality. Ironically, the difference between Stewart and Williams--which make Stewart a better reporter--is that, in his humorous act as well as in his offstage serious commentary, Stewart makes crystal clear in every instance which is which. He's the one who says over and over that his comedy and fictional expression are not on the same level as serious news reporting. Too bad Brian Williams hasn't done the same.
4
The Times should offer Jon Stewart a regular column
16
Perhaps Jon felt that if he were able to show how ridiculous and hypocritical politics is, how lame news organizations have become in their reporting, that there would be a change. It has only gotten worse. And maybe he feels, that though very popular, he isn't having the effect he wanted so he'll try some other way. He'll be missed - we need some one to provide a view into reality and sanity.
7
The media no longer views itself as providing a public service. In its efforts to gain audience share and make profits, the media became marketing driven. John Stewart at his best provided the public service abandoned by the networks and newspapers, albeit in an enjoyable fashion.
7
For those who appreciate a different view of Stewart (getting some of his own medicine) see http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2015/02/jon-stewart-and-barack-obama.html
"Stewart’s disingenuousness, veering from ironic detachment to self-righteous hectoring, undermined real sincerity with fake sincerity. The Daily Show’s audience of hipster yuppies cheered their newfound faith in sincere cynicism while the calculated ironic distance of his comedy kept him safe from critics. Even while he attacked the media’s dishonesty, his own routine was the most dishonest of them all.
His fake news was real news, biased and spun with punch lines. It was fake news that was real and just as fake as the rest of the news. The truth was that the lie was still a lie."
"Stewart’s disingenuousness, veering from ironic detachment to self-righteous hectoring, undermined real sincerity with fake sincerity. The Daily Show’s audience of hipster yuppies cheered their newfound faith in sincere cynicism while the calculated ironic distance of his comedy kept him safe from critics. Even while he attacked the media’s dishonesty, his own routine was the most dishonest of them all.
His fake news was real news, biased and spun with punch lines. It was fake news that was real and just as fake as the rest of the news. The truth was that the lie was still a lie."
3
A tart ode to greatness.
Calling Stewart a clown is just wrong, however. He is a Fool in the grand Shakespearean tradition.
He will be sorely missed.
Calling Stewart a clown is just wrong, however. He is a Fool in the grand Shakespearean tradition.
He will be sorely missed.
9
Isn't it amazing that seemingly every op-ed in the New York Times criticizes Fox News? Sure, some of their shows are purely opinion. But what about MSNBC, the radical leftist network? I guess it's immune to criticism other than the contemptible Al Sharpton.
2
As the news has gotten more and more stark, as the high standing men speak less and less sensibly, I have lost the will to listen, it's too disheartening. Even NPR ruins my afternoon, and TV news = dental surgery. Stewart's (and his ilk's) mix of humor and deadly insight ("...no place like homophobia") has become my only incursion into non-print media news. Yes, the humor is a balm to the pain of knowing how much nonsense is being peddled out there, but for me Stewart's gift is his ability to pull together the strands of a story and make sense of it in the context of his humane values. People say he is a liberal without a cause, but his humanitarianism (which by the way should transcend the right/left divide), is his cause and it is a worthy one in my estimation.
12
While we were distracted and frightened by the prospect of an American future "1984", "Animal Farm" and "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep?" we ended up with the world of "Gulliver's Travels", "Being There" and "Forest Gump".
The joke was and still is on us. Phineas Taylor Barnum as the ultimate American "Founding Father."
The joke was and still is on us. Phineas Taylor Barnum as the ultimate American "Founding Father."
4
The carney barker is the archtypal American.
1
But things have changed. Now there is a sucker born every second.
In a media environment in which "news" has become merely a euphemism for opinion, it is left to persons like Mr. Stewart and the vehicle of satire to stand in the stead of what used to be the 4th estate. Truthful and accurate reporting of news is vital to the health of our republic, and the growth of opinion based reporting is attending the demise of democracy in our nation. I can only hope that Comedy Central replaces Mr. Stewart with a voice as probing and insightful. We would be deeply fortunate to have a Senator Stewart.
5
Stewart is Mencken, Perelman, Woody, and Vidal wrapped into one. His volcanic epithets at Fox news and virtually every Republican were trenchantly funny but right on the mark. I am hoping that Oliver returns because we need someone to occupy that seat who will continue to fire witty salvos at the Palins, Cruzes, Roves, Cheneys, Bachmanns, O'Reillys and Limbaughs of the world.
6
If this cheap-and-easy column is the best you can find to fill in when Joe Nocera is off, please don't give Nocera any more vacation time. Jon Stewart had several good causes--starting with aid to veterans, medical care for 9/11 first responders in NYC and America. He also, and no one wants to remember this, also jumped CNN a lot for its fatuous way with "news reporting." Stewart will be sorely missed. This column, not so much.
1
Make the Koch brothers laugh? Is that even possible?
2
No, only humans can laugh.
1
You can be sure they laugh all the way to the bank and every time they get the right wing rich wannabes to do their bidding.
2
The huge gust of hot air you felt was the collective sigh from Fox News when they heard Jon Stewart was leaving. Stewart, Bill Maher and for a while, Al Franken, were/are the leading voices in exposing the inanities and corruption in government, both left and right. They had to concentrate more on the right wing because most of the crooks and crazies are over there. In many ways Stewart took up the mantle of Mark Twain and Will Rogers, making us laugh so we wouldn't cry.
9
I once heard the comic Louie Anderson say that it is easy to get people to laugh at politicians. He didn’t elaborate on the point, but I take it that he meant that if humor flatters an audience’s perspective on things, the audience will laugh, and laugh hysterically, even if the comedy is lame or uninspired. Surely this explains the success of “The Daily Show”. I’m sorry, but Mr. Stewarts mugging and yelling into the camera every day was never funny. I feel for the fans. It is sad when a beloved entertainer does something else; but I contend, contrary to the opinions of many, that John Stewart was not funny on “The Daily Show.”
1
I guess you had to "be there."
1
You miss the point of the show. It isn't to BE funny. It's to use humor to EDUCATE. But apparently some people can't be educated.
2
De gustibus non disputandum. But I feel sorry for you. Many, many of us thought he was hilarious.
3
For some reason, comedians are allowed to tell the truth about daily world news: Stewart, Maher, newspaper cartoonists like the great Herblock, South Park, SNL, Chris Rock. So called "serious" newsmen, like Brian Williams have a strict, ratings fueled agenda they have to adhere.
The Daily Show is the only current affairs show that compares filmed comments made with the filmed hypocrisy of speaker's actions - this is essential context ignored by so-called mainstream news. CNN, FOX and others are owned by show biz conglomerates and are really entertainment sources while entertainers like Stewart are the ones who tell the truth.
The Daily Show is the only current affairs show that compares filmed comments made with the filmed hypocrisy of speaker's actions - this is essential context ignored by so-called mainstream news. CNN, FOX and others are owned by show biz conglomerates and are really entertainment sources while entertainers like Stewart are the ones who tell the truth.
9
"'I think that Roger Ailes’s great gift was mainstreaming that nativist, paranoid streak in American politics, and putting it on television in a much prettier, shinier box,' he told Rolling Stone last year."
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”-- Isaac Asimov, 1920-1992
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”-- Isaac Asimov, 1920-1992
26
Thank you Mr. Egan for this op-ed and to the New York Times for publishing it. I am among the millions who will fell the absence of Jon Stewart viscerally. I hope he realizes how much our very degraded society needs him and he will be back soon in the venue of his choice.
2
Jon Stewart was perceptive enough to notice the cognitive dissonance and pomposity of the media and politics but he never made the connection that green screening (just one example) means the "real news" is really fake news brought to you by liars. To twist the classic line from the movie Soylent Green starring Charlton Heston, "Green Screens means Fake."
Trying very hard to do the Stewart thing -
and never succeeding...
and never succeeding...
I would like to see Rachel Maddow sit at the desk. She seems to have that nack of reporting the news in a refreshing manner. A little rough maybe, but this nation needs roughing up now and then.
7
She has the smartass part down pat! An important component to the Daily Show vibe.
1
Jon Stewart was neither a reporter nor anchor, thank god. He was a comedian. Maddow would wreck the show.
1
Paul, you understand that Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are nothing but entertainers as well.
1
Jon Stewart's announcement broke my heart. I do understand that he feels it's time to move on. Whatever he does in the future will have my ever-lasting love and support. But, my first reaction to his announcement was one that was close to tears. What do we do now? We're losing him and we've lost Colbert. One of things that made me trust him and made his show the only news broadcast I watch was that he was un-afraid, whether it was a Democrat or Republican, to expose their hypocritical and, at too many times, their ugly representation of politics in America right now. There are so many people I know that in the past I could not get to pay any kind of attention to politics whatsoever. When he appeared, they watched. They learned and became involved. His humor and bravado makes politics, which is revolting and nauseating, in America right now, a little easier to swallow, knowing we have an advocate like Stewart. He will be missed more than words can say. I guess it's time to cancel my cable. He was the only one that made it worth the dough. I will mourn for your loss for a very long time.
7
The golden age of fake news is not over, the major networks do a really good job of it now, often retracting their lies several days later . . .
3
Great overview of the positive impact Jon Stewart has had on the news media, and political culture, but writing about him in the past tense seems slightly premature. As Jon said on this week's show after his big announcement, "Did I die?" Which recalls for me another famous film quote - "I'm not dead yet!"
I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next for Mr. Stewart.
I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next for Mr. Stewart.
5
Most of us are fungible.
Brian Williams is the most recent example to come to mind. There are plenty of handsome/pretty people who have nice teeth, a full head of hair, and can read 'news' with pitch perfect cadence.
A handfull of people are irreplaceable.
I include among them Jon Stewart, Christopher Hitchens, and Frank Rich.
You are very close to that status, Mr. Egan. Keep up the good work.
Brian Williams is the most recent example to come to mind. There are plenty of handsome/pretty people who have nice teeth, a full head of hair, and can read 'news' with pitch perfect cadence.
A handfull of people are irreplaceable.
I include among them Jon Stewart, Christopher Hitchens, and Frank Rich.
You are very close to that status, Mr. Egan. Keep up the good work.
19
Not being a regular watcher of Stewart and Colbert, it still felt good to know they were around. Kinda like the old fashioned cops on the beat.
3
It says a lot about conservative "humor" that in your estimation , P.J. O'Rourke is their avatar.
I guess somebody by default has to be "the funniest" in a particular group.
Stewart and the Daily Show, if it had existed during the Nixon Administration, would have ended up on their "enemies list".
Do you think Bush and Cheney were for even a millisecond concerned in any way about Jon Stewart?
Steven Colbert at the 2006 correspondents dinner exploded a tour de force satirical IED a few feet away from a sitting president, and it had absolutely no measurable effect on anything.
As much as we'd like to congratulate Mr. Stewart for the work he's done exposing political hypocrisy all these years, in the end it's just show biz, and he'd be the first to argue that point.
The war is over, and looking for heroes in a fake news show is cold comfort indeed.
I guess somebody by default has to be "the funniest" in a particular group.
Stewart and the Daily Show, if it had existed during the Nixon Administration, would have ended up on their "enemies list".
Do you think Bush and Cheney were for even a millisecond concerned in any way about Jon Stewart?
Steven Colbert at the 2006 correspondents dinner exploded a tour de force satirical IED a few feet away from a sitting president, and it had absolutely no measurable effect on anything.
As much as we'd like to congratulate Mr. Stewart for the work he's done exposing political hypocrisy all these years, in the end it's just show biz, and he'd be the first to argue that point.
The war is over, and looking for heroes in a fake news show is cold comfort indeed.
5
Once in a great while a fine mind with impeccable delivery comes along; Jon Stewart, Carlin, Colbert. My "vote" is that they are more important than most elected officials, 99%, because they don't lie.
Where is the next one?
Where is the next one?
18
Colbert? Gone. Stewart? Soon gone. I use to look forward each day to finding out Colbert's take on the insanity we call politics. Now there will be little to look forward to. Thank you, Jon, for telling the truth in a world of liars and cowards.
10
I owe big thanks to both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert for helping me survive the tragic Bush years. Don't know what I would have done without their humor to cheer me up.
378
Absolutely agree. He was there for me from those dark days of November, 2000, through to the bitter end. A whole generation of progressives (of which I am, sometimes begrudgingly, a member), unable to vote for the first time till the 2008 election, spent their formative years desperately clinging to Mr. Stewart while the Bush "these-aren't-the-droids-you're-looking-for" administration brought America's integrity down like a sinking ship. He'll be sorely, even profoundly, missed.
1
Feel exactly the same way. The disaster of the Iraq war made me want to rant, cry and tear my hair out. I swear he preserved my sanity.
1
The lesson of Brian Williams (and frankly the brilliance of Sorkin's The Newsroom) is that we learn how important a figure the modern anchor has become, and how tenuous our relationship is with those figures. I feel unmoored now because Stewart is leaving, even though I expect that a very capable and funny Daily Show will be left behind, no matter who is behind the desk.
Stewart has such a light touch, and he moves so gracefully between comedian and critic and earnest interviewer. He never ends up sounding as bitter or hostile as Bill Maher, he is never smarmy or pedantic. And for all Colbert's brilliance, he was always playing a character. Stewart's honesty and integrity carry the show throughout.
In my life, I never thought I'd find an anchor I could, well, *trust* the way I trusted Walter Cronkite as I did growing up. I know they are doing fake news, and I know that Stewart would go nuts at the comparison, but we invite Stewart into our homes because he is the genuine article, exactly what he says he is, no more, no less. For me, that's what we are losing.
Stewart has such a light touch, and he moves so gracefully between comedian and critic and earnest interviewer. He never ends up sounding as bitter or hostile as Bill Maher, he is never smarmy or pedantic. And for all Colbert's brilliance, he was always playing a character. Stewart's honesty and integrity carry the show throughout.
In my life, I never thought I'd find an anchor I could, well, *trust* the way I trusted Walter Cronkite as I did growing up. I know they are doing fake news, and I know that Stewart would go nuts at the comparison, but we invite Stewart into our homes because he is the genuine article, exactly what he says he is, no more, no less. For me, that's what we are losing.
13
Funny thing is that the best part of Jon Stewart was his serious side, the passionate side, the heartfelt caring he displayed in his love for America. His audience was never confused about what he truly felt about anything at all, ever. He was never glib when going from something deadly serious to something outrageously funny. It is this serious side from which I believe he drew the strength and stamina to work as he did for all these years. Bravo Jon! Bravo!
16
Great column and a splendid homage.
2
"Since the golden era of fake news is over...."
No...it's A! golden age. It's not that Jon Stewart and the late Stephen Colbert - two media-obsessed funerals in such a short time - are the be-all and end all of news satire; having lived through the likes of Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl and Mark Russell, there will always be someone(s) in this land of soon to be 350-million that will carry on what those two have wrought. In their own ways.
While I've watched "The Daily Show" and "Colbert Report" - since their inceptions - along with "Jeopardy" and "Real Sports," for me, the only true must-see TV - stop the madness!!
The world will live on, bringing along with it the next generation(s) of those who knowingly, knowledgeably and ably continue to skewer politicians and news figures their own way.
So, please stop this post-mortem-like bourgeois and end this oh so maudlin shiva!
No...it's A! golden age. It's not that Jon Stewart and the late Stephen Colbert - two media-obsessed funerals in such a short time - are the be-all and end all of news satire; having lived through the likes of Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl and Mark Russell, there will always be someone(s) in this land of soon to be 350-million that will carry on what those two have wrought. In their own ways.
While I've watched "The Daily Show" and "Colbert Report" - since their inceptions - along with "Jeopardy" and "Real Sports," for me, the only true must-see TV - stop the madness!!
The world will live on, bringing along with it the next generation(s) of those who knowingly, knowledgeably and ably continue to skewer politicians and news figures their own way.
So, please stop this post-mortem-like bourgeois and end this oh so maudlin shiva!
2
Watched Stewart and Colbert and will miss them..saved what is left of my sanity. That said, their writers will likely continue. And neither of these guys managed to get their young voters to the polls. Fox manages to get their old white scared guys (and their wives) to the polls.
14
As long as the polls have ramps, they do.
That is a sad fact. Why is it that Democratic politicians have such a hard time pointing out their successes (Obama is upfront there), and that Democratic voters are too lazy to go vote when it really matters ? This country has an absolutely shameful voter participation compared to the rest of the Western World. And the Democrats are just too laissez-faire in their political attitudes to put up a fight.
Beware of a new Republican White House come next election. What will it take to bring progressive thinkers to the polls in greater numbers ?
Beware of a new Republican White House come next election. What will it take to bring progressive thinkers to the polls in greater numbers ?
1
I love Jon Stewart and The Daily Show and I think we should also acknowledge the greatness of his writing staff and faux correspondents. I believe Jon would acknowledge that he couldn't have been as insightful, pithy and funny without them.
True that as the editor in chief he hired the staff, then inspired and shaped what was presented every night on TDS. But as he acknowledged the other night, TDS was a collaborative effort and he wasn't the sole genius, just the brainstorming instigator in chief.
His statement at the very end that what he will miss most at TDS is his fellow collaborators said it all.
True that as the editor in chief he hired the staff, then inspired and shaped what was presented every night on TDS. But as he acknowledged the other night, TDS was a collaborative effort and he wasn't the sole genius, just the brainstorming instigator in chief.
His statement at the very end that what he will miss most at TDS is his fellow collaborators said it all.
18
Sure his writers were great but in reality the only parts of the show that were any good at all with a few exceptions were the parts he starred in. The "corespondents" were petty hurtful childish and often unfairly mean spirited to ignorant people. They could have done much better and it often seemed like they phoned it in or were intentionally being stupid and mean for its own sake not to point up the mistaken ideology of the victim.
1
Whole-hearted agreement! What a great team they are. It pains me to think of them going their disparate ways. I hope they are able to stay true to their anti-corporate comedic instincts as they take up future endeavors.
"“I think that Roger Ailes’s great gift was mainstreaming that nativist, paranoid streak in American politics, and putting it on television in a much prettier, shinier box,” he told Rolling Stone last year."
Vintage Stewart. If political junkies are smart, they won't let this soon to be new void last long. As much as I'll miss Stewart's trenchant take on reality--a much softer, funnier and more effective approach then the often harsh Bill Maher--nobody is indispensable when it comes to shaping opinions.
I hope that his leaving doesn't leave Americans content to waddle through the very poor news offerings on mainstream TV. This country has become dangerously docile and accepting of the pablum that's shoved down our throats by major network news or frivolous morning shows.
Will somebody please stand up and tell America the truth and consequences of what's going on in Kansas and every other place where harsh fiscal and social policies are corrupting the values of the constitution, capitalism and democracy itself?
We readers of the NYT can get this discernment but the nonreaders of this nation who believe what they see and hear on TV deserve a whole lot better than what they're getting. And we can thank Jon Stewart for that.
Vintage Stewart. If political junkies are smart, they won't let this soon to be new void last long. As much as I'll miss Stewart's trenchant take on reality--a much softer, funnier and more effective approach then the often harsh Bill Maher--nobody is indispensable when it comes to shaping opinions.
I hope that his leaving doesn't leave Americans content to waddle through the very poor news offerings on mainstream TV. This country has become dangerously docile and accepting of the pablum that's shoved down our throats by major network news or frivolous morning shows.
Will somebody please stand up and tell America the truth and consequences of what's going on in Kansas and every other place where harsh fiscal and social policies are corrupting the values of the constitution, capitalism and democracy itself?
We readers of the NYT can get this discernment but the nonreaders of this nation who believe what they see and hear on TV deserve a whole lot better than what they're getting. And we can thank Jon Stewart for that.
21
Both are smart and funny the difference is that Stewart sees himself as one of "Us", Maher sees himself as better than most of "Us".
1
Yes, we readers of the NYT are a jolly exceptional lot, aren't we? Discernment is our gift from a higher source. Speaking of discernment, did you notice that Egan mentioned Stewart's calling out of the cheerleaders of the prelude to Shock and Awe? And, marching right at the front of the WMD parade was our very own NYT. Yes, with all modest discernment, the Times was happy to brand those naysayers as traitors committing high treason against the patriots of this country. Thanks, Jon, for calling a spade a spade back in 2003.
2
I would like to see a ground swell Fan Club to carry his legacy. Jon Stewart was my safety valve. The air heads on TV news are just that. All looks, parroting what the producers feed them, and a questionable IQ. Quality professional journalists in this country will soon be just a memory we old 'uns recall with respect.
Jon Stewart's salary is $25 million for a show that has about 2.5 million viewers. I have never seen his show. Must have been a lot of big spenders in his audience.
4
So sorry for you. What a small world you must inhabit.
2
$10 value add per viewer per year. That does not sound like a lot of soap to me.
You are amazing for a big-spending New Yorker in Westchester.
Without Jon Stewart, and before him Colbert, we viewers in red states, surrounded by hostile partisans, will lose our lifeboat of laughter and sanity. Jon, you will be missed more than you know.
32
Jon Stewart is the "Consumer Reports" on politics and social issues. There cannot be a greater honor bestowed on him than that. I'll miss you man!
180
If Jon Stewart ran for President, he would win in a landslide. This is true. It must frighten the right that no matter how much money the Kochs spend, no matter who their field from their current bag of nuts, Stewart would crush them.
9
Agreed. I think this is why the Democratic party was so scared when Stephen Colbert tried to sign up as a candidate in the South Carolina primary.
1
In the Land of Oz, maybe. Dream on.
Should we be surprised that the mawkishness, boorishness, jingoism, hucksterism, snake oil, and sheer vacuity that is served up as news and debate on TV has flourished in spite of Jon Stewart? Saddened, perhaps, but surprised, no. The jester's pose adopted by Stewart (and his colleague Stephen Colbert) made it possible for him to have an audience, where a frontal critic would have been dismissed as moralizing and angry. That same pose however allows the boors, hucksters and snake-oil peddlers to pretend that he is "just a jester," not to be taken seriously. And so they carry on, coarsening the discourse and insulting our intelligence.
But such are the ways of the world. The Trojans did not listen to Cassandra and Lear did not listen to the Fool. Stewart is just the latest prophet without honor in his own land.
But such are the ways of the world. The Trojans did not listen to Cassandra and Lear did not listen to the Fool. Stewart is just the latest prophet without honor in his own land.
3
Note that our dear columnist, representing the "traditional, centrist media," one which relies on access to the corridors of power, offered the backhanded compliment of calling Stewart a "gifted clown." Stewart will always be slighted, even in praise, because he holds up the mirror to the media elites and shows how they and the political class they coddle have no clothes.
Thinking ends where mockery begins. Stewart's schtick is really no different than Rush Limbaugh's. The reason both succeed is not because of their humor but because they tell their audiences the world really is black and white. The other guys really are evil buffoons. Issues aren't complex. And by the way, you belong, you are one of us, the smart set. These guys aren't Will Rogers. Their observations are often mean spirited and seldom more than superficial. It's an act put on by entertainers, not a reliable source of news. If you want humor buy a Woody Allen DVD. If you want news, read the New York Times. And don't mourn Jon Stewart. There will be another actor by soon enough to tell you what you want to hear.
2
Thinking ends where mockery begins? Um, no. Satire: the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.
2
Nothing could be further from the truth. Rush Limbaugh's shows sound as if he sits down with a list of issues in one hand, logical fallacies in the other (starting with flattering the audience), and rambles for two hours in a totally partisan, bigoted, mean-spirited fashion, utterly incapable of self-irony. Stewart's forte is to point out, accurately, the logical fallacies in the behavior of all sides, and include himself in the humor; his attacks are almost never ad hominem like Rush's but instead attacks on bad thinking and inauthentic behavior. Vive la difference.
6
DTB, to compare Stewart's "schtick" to Rush Limbaugh sounds like something Steven Colbert's character would say. . . so ridiculous in its scale of "truthiness"! Much of what Stewart pointed out was the complexity of situations and that the extreme propaganda that a Rush or his Fox brethren put out completely ignored those complexities. Your false equivalency between the two is indeed, misplaced.
1
Stewart has been great in so many ways. But his take down of Jim Cramer (and Egan's celebration of it) was just plain wrong. Far from being a shill for the thieves of Wall Street, Cramer truly dedicates himself to helping the little guy get into the game and play it C-A-R-E-F-U-L-L-Y for profit. I could write ten pages of examples rebutting Stewart (and Egan) on Cramer. But I'll leave it at this. I've learned a lot from him and have made a lot of money listening to his suggestions.
Stewart owes Cramer an apology.
Stewart owes Cramer an apology.
2
"I ... have made a lot of money listening to [Jim Cramer's] suggestions."
Then you've been extremely fortunate, Mr. Marks. The vast majority of gamblers are losers.
In my case, though, I asked myself, if Mr. Cramer is a true success at playing the stock market, then why is it that he, nevertheless, works for a living, just as I do? Sheer altruism, perhaps?
I concluded that Mr. Cramer is, to borrow your phrase, "a shill for the thieves of Wall Street."
Mr. Stewart owes Mr. Cramer no apology.
Then you've been extremely fortunate, Mr. Marks. The vast majority of gamblers are losers.
In my case, though, I asked myself, if Mr. Cramer is a true success at playing the stock market, then why is it that he, nevertheless, works for a living, just as I do? Sheer altruism, perhaps?
I concluded that Mr. Cramer is, to borrow your phrase, "a shill for the thieves of Wall Street."
Mr. Stewart owes Mr. Cramer no apology.
1
Great story from our National Anchormen Special Correspondent , Timothy Egan
2
A sad loss to people that cared about the world around them, and not an ounce of selfishness to be heard .
2
What really hits you in the pit of your stomach is that when you hear Jon Stewart's leaving, you realize there's nowhere to go.
6
As there are in the "Comments" section, there should be a "recommend" icon for articles and columns.
As Egan says it all so well, I have nothing to say other than --- "Recommend."
As Egan says it all so well, I have nothing to say other than --- "Recommend."
5
Jon's leaving at just the right time. His persona was shifting from making fun of the story to becoming part of the story. He's great at making fun of the story. But, his story is becoming institutionalized. His performance as become the political news norm. Its not his fault. He is just doing his job and doing it excellent.
The legacy of Jon Stewart is a younger generation, my children, whose skepticism of any formal media has been honed by the likes of Stewart and Colbert. The downside to my children's quoting of a Stewart gem, is a deep cynicism about all institutional messages and policies. I wish for more optimism from my children, but fear they look into the internet fish in the barrel every morning and just shake their heads.
2
Describing Stewart as a "clown" diminishes the work that he has done. He has treated those who deserve mockery with the appropriate scorn while informing those not part of the DC Elite or those that curry their favor (I am looking at you, Chuck Todd!) of the lies and hypocrisy that pass for government and an adversarial press. The loss of the Daily Show and Steven Colbert's character "Stephen Colbert" will augur a return to the privileged entitlements of a Political/Media complex that will distract us with issues such as what Kim Kardashian did with her rump or whether Obama should have let go of the coffee before saluting, all while looting our country's coffers and reducing the citizenry's quality of life.
5
Clown is hardly a good description of a brilliant comedian and satirist. I am older and love Jon. So not just the young, maybe just smarter people--ie those who do not buy the mainstream media's point of view.
1
Jon Stewart has optimized a formula that someone else will tweak to achieve similar results of poking fun at the nonsense that will continue to exist in the media. After all, in 2004, it would have been hard to predict that Colbert could do what he did, which was to skewer the media in a significantly different manner but to equally or more hilarious effect. It may get a little worse before it gets better, but we will be all right.
2
The beauty of the internet is that those of us who want to make up our own minds can sort through all of the "facts" that we take in and make our own decisions about what to believe. Until 10 yrs ago all we could do was read or see what "journalists" believed. One need to look no further than Brian Williams to see how that worked out. The mainstream media wants us to believe that Mr. Williams was the exception but I suspect we will learn otherwise. Mr. Stewart is a great entertainer but the idea that he is an agent of social change says more about those who believe that than anything else.
5
I think you have it exactly backwards. The credible news is provided by professional journalists who do detailed reporting that is fact-checked and corroborated by multiple sources. There are real standards, as one can see from how far and how fast Brian Williams has fallen (and Dan Rather before him). It's impossible to assess the unfiltered stuff you read on the internet, and it's a mistake to make up your mind based on the latest revelations from the twitterverse.
3
The beauty of the internet is that those among us who have already made up their minds can sort through the "facts," and reject any of them that don't fit their preconceived notions of reality. Until 10 years ago, the very best new magazines and newspapers hired "journalists" who were paid to actually investigate stories and help us make sense of a confusing world. One need look no further than Brian Williams to see how far those institutions have fallen in an era when entertainment empires consider the cost of actually gathering the news to be a liability.
Stewart shined a light on our brave new world where objective news reporting has been replaced by "spin doctors," "false equivalency," and "talking points." It's been a wonderful run, and I, for one, am going to miss Jon a lot during the 2016 elections.
Stewart shined a light on our brave new world where objective news reporting has been replaced by "spin doctors," "false equivalency," and "talking points." It's been a wonderful run, and I, for one, am going to miss Jon a lot during the 2016 elections.
3
If credible news is fact-checked and corroborated by multiple sources, then Brian Williams' war story would have been vetted ten years ago. Reality is complex and "The News" is big business. Bias and interpretation are always embedded in every bit of so-called information we assimilate. As they say, "believing is seeing". There is little difference between the NYT and Fox News. They just preach to different choirs.
1
Political and social satirists such as Stewart are important because they can often speak the truth when no one else dares. Even kings had jesters for their amusement, men who had permission to mock the king. Comedians today fill this role and in an open society can do so freely. Every society needs an acceptable way to face the folly of its ways. They are the better for it.
35
I admire Jon for lampooning the inane and calling people out for abusing public trust. Fortunately he comes from good stock like Clemens, Rogers, Allen to name a few. No doubt there are others who may be "nameless" now who will move into the public eye. The material is there and all it will take is a funny expressive balanced human to continue the legacy.
My thoughts do lead me to seeing Mr. Stewart entering politics, should he choose to do so. He might even excel at the game and bring something needed to the table that is sorely needed in Congress, honesty.
I want to thank Mr. Colbert as well for his excellent coverage of PACs and SuperPACs with his lawyer. It was brilliant.
My thoughts do lead me to seeing Mr. Stewart entering politics, should he choose to do so. He might even excel at the game and bring something needed to the table that is sorely needed in Congress, honesty.
I want to thank Mr. Colbert as well for his excellent coverage of PACs and SuperPACs with his lawyer. It was brilliant.
45
As long as Fox News broadcasts, there will be no end to fake News.
Fox went to court for the right to lie and won.
They don't need or believe in truth.
All Fox needs is to speculate on Fox and Friends in the morning, then discuss the speculation on their afternoon shows, and then Hannity and O'Reilly present is as factual in the evening.
This happens every day, which is why more Fox News clips are on the Daily show than any other.
John Oliver, please come back!
Fox went to court for the right to lie and won.
They don't need or believe in truth.
All Fox needs is to speculate on Fox and Friends in the morning, then discuss the speculation on their afternoon shows, and then Hannity and O'Reilly present is as factual in the evening.
This happens every day, which is why more Fox News clips are on the Daily show than any other.
John Oliver, please come back!
100
Amen. And their are stats to prove it too.
Tim, you're right about Senator Franken.
How we're missing his S-N-L quips --
Like how rabbis who do circumcisions
wouldn't charge 'cause they only take tips!
How we're missing his S-N-L quips --
Like how rabbis who do circumcisions
wouldn't charge 'cause they only take tips!
13
When I sample the Sunday Talk / News shows, it is difficult to escape the visage of Lindsey Graham. I can't change the channel fast enough, then I usually read about his latest crazy pronouncement on a right-wing media watch summary later. Why do these programs (outside of Fox "News") continue to feature this lunatic? Is he supposed to represent the anti- critical thinking viewpoint?
60
Thank you for writing that. I have the same reaction to him. How can anyone take him seriously!
1
sadly, he represents my district - have never voted for him! He is a war monger because SC likes war - and his district has huge bases for war action.
2
Jon Stewart was not only funny & incisive he typified the sort of America a lot of Europeans love (and I guess many others around the world too). I will miss him deeply. His humor was always food for (political) thought. Jon how can you do this to us? Retire? You can't, you're much too young for this and you are a national treasure who is treasured beyond national borders.
62
So, so true! Both I and my eighteen-year-old son have been used to keeping ourselves informed of the more bizarre sides of American politics and news media via blessfully respectless and extremely funny Jon Stewart.
I watch broadcast television. The Kansas joke you mentioned puts a new interpretation on "Surrender Dorothy." I read somewhere Fox News was started by an Australian tabloid. I'm not sure how funny they consider themselves to be. Geraldo Rivera's workfare became law. I don't consider that funny, and neither do the dead.
6
I read several international newspapers and blogs each day. In the United States, there is only one paper worth reading, and that is this one. Just look at the unmoderated comments sections in the Washington Post, for example, and one has slipped into another ring of Dante's Inferno. It's a supremely dispiriting experience. The media, in general, fails in the United States, where a vigilant media would be useful. Fox is a parody, a ghoul-infested crude propaganda machine. Even the NYT fails famously, with its 'torture' debacle, the Iraq mess, and its general failure to be critical. Its bloggers toe the line for the failed news-writers. Why, for example, was I reading about the Muslim murders in Chapel Hill this week in European newspapers 12 hours before it appeared in US ones? Were US newspapers waiting for the filters? Sadly, we are lost without a vigilant press; there is nothing left, save one or two journalists worthy of the profession.
55
Just a coincidence that I am from Chapel Hill, but I would note that very few people's primary criticism of US media outlets is they aren't "fast enough" in their reporting. For shame that US sources were all of 12 HOURS LATE in reporting on a murder case! What exactly was the damage done during this 12 hour delay (eg, overnight in the US)? What advantage did you gain in your world relative to those who did not learn this information until they awoke the next morning?
I would argue that, as a general rule, journalistic quality improves immensely when the reporter figuratively counts to ten before his/her reporting is posted. I also would argue that it is a relatively rare occurrence when speed is the defining characteristic of journalistic quality. In fact, in the Chapel Hill murder case, the fundamental question of motive is still not entirely clear days later, although journalistic speculation was rampant within minutes of the story being initially reported.
I would argue that, as a general rule, journalistic quality improves immensely when the reporter figuratively counts to ten before his/her reporting is posted. I also would argue that it is a relatively rare occurrence when speed is the defining characteristic of journalistic quality. In fact, in the Chapel Hill murder case, the fundamental question of motive is still not entirely clear days later, although journalistic speculation was rampant within minutes of the story being initially reported.
1
Terence....The US was late in reporting the NC murders vs the intl press? They weren't 'vigilant'? Why wouldn't they jump on it? Your point is they were avoiding it? Why would they?
Maybe you got your time zones mixed up. I suggest a regular sleep schedule and use clocks set for the various time zones while you read the all the intl news.
Maybe you got your time zones mixed up. I suggest a regular sleep schedule and use clocks set for the various time zones while you read the all the intl news.
I saw TV news begin to change back in the 80s, after the trusted news anchors retired, and the change accelerated with the birth of cable and the internet, which put economic pressure on broadcast journalism. The networks could no longer afford to run giant news organizations at a loss and the priority shifted to attracting viewers by whatever means necessary. So we end up with the local accidents of the day, puff pieces on what Beyoncé was wearing on the red carpet, and 25-second summaries of major international developments lifted from the wire services. Only public television, NPR, Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Bill Maher and the like, who are relatively independent of economic pressures, report the actual news. Jon Steward lambasted the Crossfire team for treating him as a news reporter when he was just doing a comedy show, but in fact he did better reporting than almost anyone else.
We will sorely miss him, not just because he was likeable and incredibly funny, but because he provided something that is not easily replaced. In my opinion, his leaving Comedy Central is comparable to Cronkite's retirement. I feel very sad.
We will sorely miss him, not just because he was likeable and incredibly funny, but because he provided something that is not easily replaced. In my opinion, his leaving Comedy Central is comparable to Cronkite's retirement. I feel very sad.
39
It's nice to see I'm not the only one who acknowledges Bill Maher in the same sentence as Jon Streart.
1
Caught the film "Network" the other night. What we are observing on our screens today is the end result of "news as entertainment." Jon Stewart (and Stephen Colbert) just did it with a lot more wit.
We desperately need information straight with no chaser. And, we need humorists like Stewart, Twain and Mencken for a dose of humanity. This long line of humorists is the American "Charlie."
We desperately need information straight with no chaser. And, we need humorists like Stewart, Twain and Mencken for a dose of humanity. This long line of humorists is the American "Charlie."
41
He and Stephen Colbert provided a valuable public service. They are so much smarter and they care about the USA and our future more than any of the news readers out there. Their research teams probed in depth rather than simply read press releases on the air in between Viagra commercials. I evolved to getting more news from them, although, like Bill Clinton, I am certainly not in their targeted age demographic.
John Oliver is doing great work on HBO. Why is it that he is hiring more researchers when "real" news is cutting back? We need more like him to counterbalance all the buffoons out there.
John Oliver is doing great work on HBO. Why is it that he is hiring more researchers when "real" news is cutting back? We need more like him to counterbalance all the buffoons out there.
63
Like nature, reason abhors a vacuum.
Hopefully, the vacuum left by the departure of Jon Stewart and the "Colbert Report" persona of Stephen Colbert will be filled in due time by other intelligent persons with original ideas that can provide a similar mirror by which to view our society.
As brilliant as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are, their shows succeeded because they had a solid staff of like minded people. Maybe some of those people will emerge to be the next leaders of this mission. And hopefully, many of them will still be there to provide ground support for the next leaders.
America needs you all.
Hopefully, the vacuum left by the departure of Jon Stewart and the "Colbert Report" persona of Stephen Colbert will be filled in due time by other intelligent persons with original ideas that can provide a similar mirror by which to view our society.
As brilliant as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are, their shows succeeded because they had a solid staff of like minded people. Maybe some of those people will emerge to be the next leaders of this mission. And hopefully, many of them will still be there to provide ground support for the next leaders.
America needs you all.
47
@HDNY - forgive me for my "moment of pedant," although writers are the creative brains behind the show. Just ask any theater producer or movie director. The writers inspire the breath of genius that showmen breathe into life.
I will miss Jon Stewart's and Steve Colbert's inimitable talent for getting to the heart of the cynicism and fakery and outright corruption that has flooded our political landscape completely, specially their knack for finding older video footage of politicians and their ilk and compare it to recent, completely opposite statements. Hypocrisy and lies were exposed in a hilarious, incredibly fast manner. But they also had excellent writers and a crackpot team of video sleuths who are now available for the next Daily Show host. Without them, even John Stewart and Colbert with their funny and very intelligent way of conducting interviews would have not been the same. And we still have John Oliver. So let's also give a hand to the many writers and contributors to the Daily Show and the Colbert Report and hope that somebody with an equal amount of talent steps into the void and uses their talents.
131
And, Larry Wilmore -- another Daily Show alum -- shows promise.
3
So often the news report seems so detached from the reality we live that it seems that we are swimming in a sea of cognitive dissonance.
At the end of the day, John Stewart has been our virtual best friend, the one who says yes! it doesn't add up, this is nonsense, we have bad actors on government, and ad agencies, banks and oil companies don't care who suffers or if we wreck the planet as long as there is profit, profit, profit.
He is both mirror and validation of the crazy making times we live in, particularly of we are still hopeful enough to believe in the promise of America and the ideals we were schooled on.
At the end of the day, John Stewart has been our virtual best friend, the one who says yes! it doesn't add up, this is nonsense, we have bad actors on government, and ad agencies, banks and oil companies don't care who suffers or if we wreck the planet as long as there is profit, profit, profit.
He is both mirror and validation of the crazy making times we live in, particularly of we are still hopeful enough to believe in the promise of America and the ideals we were schooled on.
258
Stewart in Congress? Everyone know honest people do not get elected any longer.
19
He's got a taste of the director in him now.
1
Congress? What a waste. How about VP on a ticket with Hillary?
We already have one comedian, Al Franken, in Congress. One is enough.
1
Jon Stewart has given America better explanations of our daily society than that provided by all the "major networks" combined. We are lucky to have had him in that role, and I wish him well.
189
Soon Jon will no longer be there
To laugh at foul masquerading as fair.
What is found in a sewer
Will seem better and newer
To Fox and all those who roam there.
To laugh at foul masquerading as fair.
What is found in a sewer
Will seem better and newer
To Fox and all those who roam there.
34
To Mr Egan's opening question: real news and real politics have been over for a while. They drowned in a sea of corporate money, savage inequalities, ignorance and imperial hubris.
Stewart's schtick as a comedian was to see that news reporting (telling an audience what was happening in the world) could be combined with a wonderful sense of timing and the odd raised eye-brow, and the audience could only read it as "satire". That was THE JOKE. Playing clips of the track-record of American "news analysts" and "pundits" (often ex-political hacks and military men), showing that how often they were spectacularly wrong about the world had no bearing on how often they were invited to share their "expertise", or playing a clip of the CEO of AIG explaining his reasons for suing the US government for giving his bankrupt company a bailout in 2008 (184bn when it was valued at less than 16bn) held a mirror up, not to them, but to us. It's as if Jonathan Swift, looking outside his window, saw his countrymen already eating babies, and all he could do was create the world's first cooking show. It would not have been to solicit recipe requests.
Fox was simply the most obvious target, and the most reassuring for the rest of us (look at what Those People think is real). We all live in that world, though, just in the more genteel part of it. Our real news did not protect us from brutal military adventures or hold accountable Armani-clad bank-robbers. We're still waiting for the last laugh.
Stewart's schtick as a comedian was to see that news reporting (telling an audience what was happening in the world) could be combined with a wonderful sense of timing and the odd raised eye-brow, and the audience could only read it as "satire". That was THE JOKE. Playing clips of the track-record of American "news analysts" and "pundits" (often ex-political hacks and military men), showing that how often they were spectacularly wrong about the world had no bearing on how often they were invited to share their "expertise", or playing a clip of the CEO of AIG explaining his reasons for suing the US government for giving his bankrupt company a bailout in 2008 (184bn when it was valued at less than 16bn) held a mirror up, not to them, but to us. It's as if Jonathan Swift, looking outside his window, saw his countrymen already eating babies, and all he could do was create the world's first cooking show. It would not have been to solicit recipe requests.
Fox was simply the most obvious target, and the most reassuring for the rest of us (look at what Those People think is real). We all live in that world, though, just in the more genteel part of it. Our real news did not protect us from brutal military adventures or hold accountable Armani-clad bank-robbers. We're still waiting for the last laugh.
49
Wow! Mr Egan, you fulfilled my dream, to praise my beloved Jon Stewart and expose Fox for what they are or what they're not. Thank you, Thank you. If only I could be so eloquent.
40
Don't despair. There's still hope that Bill Maher (another comedian brave enough to criticise the Iraq war early on) can take over for him.
21
Dubious? Maher's gig is too sweet. A daily show would cramp his style.
1
Not so sure about Maher and his initial view on the invasion of Iraq. Bill is too AIPACy.
1
Bill Maher's virulent bigotry eliminates him as a candidate to follow in Joh Stewart's shoes.
1
I'm amazed that left wing billionaires don't get more involved in providing seed capital to political comedy shows on TV and the internet. It's so effective and exponential. Jon and Stephen provided the venue for the left, center, and even the anti-war libertarians for a decade. They were the glue that often kept us together.
What a service!
I hate relying on Viacom or the other Big Six media corporations to provide it. We got lucky in so many ways with Jon and Steven. LUCKY. Lightening struck twice. This was at a time that NBC was firing Donahue, ABC Bill Maher, all related to post 911 censorship-style "patriotism".
We cannot continue to rely on a handful of giant multinationals to provide cultural, political comedy. I'm worried.
Perhaps Jon can make this part of a future effort. He has the money, connections, and profile to raise serious capital for production. Through production and development, he can have an exponential effect.
If Jon or left wing billionaires are reading this: get to it!
What a service!
I hate relying on Viacom or the other Big Six media corporations to provide it. We got lucky in so many ways with Jon and Steven. LUCKY. Lightening struck twice. This was at a time that NBC was firing Donahue, ABC Bill Maher, all related to post 911 censorship-style "patriotism".
We cannot continue to rely on a handful of giant multinationals to provide cultural, political comedy. I'm worried.
Perhaps Jon can make this part of a future effort. He has the money, connections, and profile to raise serious capital for production. Through production and development, he can have an exponential effect.
If Jon or left wing billionaires are reading this: get to it!
28
Jon Stewart's replacement will have to be smart, informed, articulate, fearless, and telegenic.
I nominate Tim Egan.
I nominate Tim Egan.
17
Rachel could do it, but she's so well positioned now that the equal loss from MSNBC would be tragic.
You nailed it once again, Tim. Between 9/11 and the continuing U.S.-created "Mess o' Potamia," Stewart was one of the few news outlets actually devoted to gathering evidence and reporting news -- along with Paul Krugman, NPR and Knight-Ridder. If you weren't paying attention to them, you had no idea what was happening in the worst foreign policy disaster (and longest war) in American history. Fortunately, Stephen Colbert summarized it all in his famous, heroic speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. They not only spoke the truth to power, they backed it up with hard evidence -- including the culprits' own words, conveniently forgotten by almost everyone else.
166
Hey don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Jon Stewart, but I feel his announcement was about couple of years overdue, and I mean that as no disrespect. He helped us to laugh at the sad state of journalism and hypocrisy of power in our country, he made our elections just barely sufferable, he helped bring Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Aasif Mandvi and others to our screens. The lives of many of us are measurably better because of the man.
Maybe John Oliver has the formula right, his weekly show with his humorous approach to serious issues is wonderful. Maybe Stephen Colbert will be fantastic each night, as we expect, when he takes over from the tired Letterman.
It was time for a change.
News? Where will we get it now? The fact is, there is very little news. We have an overabundance of news channels, news shows, and everything is available 24/7, but there is very little news. The only real news today is that it is Friday... and poof! tomorrow that news is gone. I can live without news.
What becomes of the Daily Show? Can it survive without Jon Stewart? Who knows, maybe it should quietly disappear. Although one radical though might be for Brian Williams to become host. I can see him now, talking tongue-in-cheek about his exploits, setting himself up for ridicule, interlaced with humorous exposes about the sad state of journalism and hypocrisy of power in our country.
It's time for a change.
Maybe John Oliver has the formula right, his weekly show with his humorous approach to serious issues is wonderful. Maybe Stephen Colbert will be fantastic each night, as we expect, when he takes over from the tired Letterman.
It was time for a change.
News? Where will we get it now? The fact is, there is very little news. We have an overabundance of news channels, news shows, and everything is available 24/7, but there is very little news. The only real news today is that it is Friday... and poof! tomorrow that news is gone. I can live without news.
What becomes of the Daily Show? Can it survive without Jon Stewart? Who knows, maybe it should quietly disappear. Although one radical though might be for Brian Williams to become host. I can see him now, talking tongue-in-cheek about his exploits, setting himself up for ridicule, interlaced with humorous exposes about the sad state of journalism and hypocrisy of power in our country.
It's time for a change.
10
This absolutely great op-ed is a worthy pitch for replacing Stewart's "nightly ritual of mockery of the deserved class" with perhaps a second weekly op-ed from Tim. But I'd question the near-unalloyed praise of Stewart as a "Lefty without a cause". If I have to put up with lefties at all, I'd like them at least to have an honest cause. And it's not just Stewart that lacks one, other than aimless barbs that honestly earn guffaws -- Bill Maher is cut from the same cloth, offering simplistic liberal nostrums as if solving America's challenges were merely a matter of accepting those nostrums as being delivered from a burning bush. Like many others, I only watch Maher for "New Rules", and I'm beginning to consider stopping, as they're becoming less funny and far more preachy.
Take Maureen, as a counter, decidedly a leftie WITH a cause. She lambastes "Barry" on a semi-regular basis with the toughest love imaginable, trying to get him to mensch-up and do what she is convinced as a leftie that he SHOULD do and doesn't, largely for very basic political failings. But it may be that she, with her cause that must have gotten her disinvited from more than one jumbo shrimp soiree at Alec Baldwin's, may have far greater impact than EITHER Stewart or Maher, BECAUSE of her cause and the defined nature of her target.
I laugh at Stewart and Maher. I regard Maureen as a legitimate threat. Whom do you suppose has the greater relevance?
Take Maureen, as a counter, decidedly a leftie WITH a cause. She lambastes "Barry" on a semi-regular basis with the toughest love imaginable, trying to get him to mensch-up and do what she is convinced as a leftie that he SHOULD do and doesn't, largely for very basic political failings. But it may be that she, with her cause that must have gotten her disinvited from more than one jumbo shrimp soiree at Alec Baldwin's, may have far greater impact than EITHER Stewart or Maher, BECAUSE of her cause and the defined nature of her target.
I laugh at Stewart and Maher. I regard Maureen as a legitimate threat. Whom do you suppose has the greater relevance?
4
Maureen and "impact" in the same sentence? Hardly. I stopped reading here a few years ago, when she started going all Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons on D.C. society, and forgot all about, y'know, politics.
2
Stewart and Maher may be comics, but I take issue with Egan's description of Stewart as a "Leftie without a Cause,' because unlike you I do not define a cause as simply someone such as Maureen Dowd as a individual with a cause, but someone with a personal vendetta against an individual that aligns perfectly with your own political beliefs.
Whereas, Stewart's cause is general; educating his audience on the true facts and hypocrisy of our political and MSM news organizations.
Moreover, Stewart and Maher invite guests from both sides of the political spectrum, and offer them the opportunity to speak without constantly interjecting their own opinions.
Mr. Egan mentioned P.J. O'Rourke, and although it may have been a while, Mr. O'Rourke appeared regularly on Maher's show as did Representative Issa from CA, Coulter, Hoover, and a number of other "conservative" advocates.
Whereas, Stewart's cause is general; educating his audience on the true facts and hypocrisy of our political and MSM news organizations.
Moreover, Stewart and Maher invite guests from both sides of the political spectrum, and offer them the opportunity to speak without constantly interjecting their own opinions.
Mr. Egan mentioned P.J. O'Rourke, and although it may have been a while, Mr. O'Rourke appeared regularly on Maher's show as did Representative Issa from CA, Coulter, Hoover, and a number of other "conservative" advocates.
1
So you like left leaning commentary only when they lambaste the left? Hmm...
1
Saturday Night Live could learn from Jon Stewart's success. Stewart is hip, timely, current, relevant and edgy, which SNL no longer is. I remember when SNL used to be funny. Now, most people have no idea what most of their repetitive skits are about. And those jokes about flatulence are getting old.
Stewart is one-of-a-kind and is irreplaceable.
Stewart is one-of-a-kind and is irreplaceable.
28
It's interesting that most every time Jon Stewart is written about, his "young" audience is also mentioned. He is middle aged, my age, and yet is beloved by niece and nephew who are 20 and 16. They love watching him as much as I do.
Gail Collins helps. Still, there is no one like Jon Stewart. How will we get throughout the 2016 election without Stewart?
Gail Collins helps. Still, there is no one like Jon Stewart. How will we get throughout the 2016 election without Stewart?
68
Every one of my middle-aged peers is a fan. Guess they always mention his young audience 'cause it's the only news they watch. Wait a minute...it's the only news I watch, too.
1
P. J. O'Rourke is "funny"?
16
Actually he is very funny. He's been on NPR's show "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" numerous times and Maher's show. And he goes after Republicans all of the time. He's the only Republican I like.
Oh, yes. He's "funny," all right. I was gifted one of his books by a right-wing in-law, and read it without even a smile at his "humor." He is inexplicably, sometimes a guest on "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," where he makes unfunny jokes" and laughs heartily at them, while few others do. Paula Poundstone IS funny, and it's great to hear her nearly every week. I don't know what Peter Sagle is thinking when he gets O'Rourke on the show, but it's a misguided selection.
Now, Jon Stewart, bolstered by crack writers, was a stong definition of funny, as was "The Colbert Report." During the writers' strike of a few years ago, one could see in both hosts just how much the writers made the shows what they were; Colbert came perilously close to revealing his actual, lefty poliitics.
I nominate the peerless Samantha Bee and/or Jessica Williams for replacement(s).
Now, Jon Stewart, bolstered by crack writers, was a stong definition of funny, as was "The Colbert Report." During the writers' strike of a few years ago, one could see in both hosts just how much the writers made the shows what they were; Colbert came perilously close to revealing his actual, lefty poliitics.
I nominate the peerless Samantha Bee and/or Jessica Williams for replacement(s).
1
Only if you have a sense of humor.
1
Dear JoStew:
Thank you for the laughs, and thank you for leaving.
For we enjoyed the show, but we made not a whit of a difference to the sociopolitical or economic situation that had produced the mirth.
We celebrated the unfairness, absurdity, inconsistency, the hypocrisy, the vacuousness of the powerful with you. It lulled us into complacence. We thought that mocking and laughing make for political strategy, or social activism.
Even as we laughed, bailouts happened, wars were declared, Rumsfeld and Cheney were never tried, Michele Bachmann won, NRA and Sarah Palin thrived, Fox news got the highest rating ever, Limbaugh laughed all the way to the bank, Rove is regarded as a political pundit, the top 1% of the top 1% convinced the bottom 50% to vote for their candidates. Big oil, defense, and finance - kept their subsidies, their loopholes, and prevented legislation that would level the playing field. Koch brothers couldn't care less about who knows about their agenda to buy the next presidency.
So while we were smugly chortling, mocking, and laughing with you, everyone we were laughing at took over the country. Our mockery did not temper their actions, it did not get in the way of them taking control of everything.
Enjoy the evenings with your family JoStew; for we've plain got to take it from here, and get the country back from those I was once laughing at.
Kalidan
Thank you for the laughs, and thank you for leaving.
For we enjoyed the show, but we made not a whit of a difference to the sociopolitical or economic situation that had produced the mirth.
We celebrated the unfairness, absurdity, inconsistency, the hypocrisy, the vacuousness of the powerful with you. It lulled us into complacence. We thought that mocking and laughing make for political strategy, or social activism.
Even as we laughed, bailouts happened, wars were declared, Rumsfeld and Cheney were never tried, Michele Bachmann won, NRA and Sarah Palin thrived, Fox news got the highest rating ever, Limbaugh laughed all the way to the bank, Rove is regarded as a political pundit, the top 1% of the top 1% convinced the bottom 50% to vote for their candidates. Big oil, defense, and finance - kept their subsidies, their loopholes, and prevented legislation that would level the playing field. Koch brothers couldn't care less about who knows about their agenda to buy the next presidency.
So while we were smugly chortling, mocking, and laughing with you, everyone we were laughing at took over the country. Our mockery did not temper their actions, it did not get in the way of them taking control of everything.
Enjoy the evenings with your family JoStew; for we've plain got to take it from here, and get the country back from those I was once laughing at.
Kalidan
1264
Well said. I don't think Jon would agree more.
2
Agree with everything you say except, unfortunately, that idea that there's any chance that "we" are going "to take it from here, and get the country back from those I was once laughing at."
Ain't going to happen as, nowadays, wallowing in distractions is what we're
best at.
Ain't going to happen as, nowadays, wallowing in distractions is what we're
best at.
1
I dearly love Jon Stewart and his show has helped keep me sane but you do have a point. For me, I started commenting on NY Times articles and essays about two years ago. It felt good to write about the mendacity and slipperiness of certain ideas and writers. I have come to feel, though, that maybe commenting does not help change the world. It has made me feel not alone, as I read other comments and give and get recommends. The Daily Show also made me feel less alone. This may be particularly true in a red state.
And now I need to pay more attention to movements and nonprofits that do change the world for the better. This is especially since I just retired; I understood when Stewart talked about people busy with jobs and kids. But I can do it in a human way, thanks to Jon Stewart, his writers and NY Times commenters, knowing that I am only human. Knowing what is going on, which I got from The Daily Show and from certain journalists ( thank you Krugman, Egan and Kristoff and general reporters and I will miss Carr and Simon ) is a big part, I think, of learning where to put one 's energies.
And now I need to pay more attention to movements and nonprofits that do change the world for the better. This is especially since I just retired; I understood when Stewart talked about people busy with jobs and kids. But I can do it in a human way, thanks to Jon Stewart, his writers and NY Times commenters, knowing that I am only human. Knowing what is going on, which I got from The Daily Show and from certain journalists ( thank you Krugman, Egan and Kristoff and general reporters and I will miss Carr and Simon ) is a big part, I think, of learning where to put one 's energies.
8
Kind of the NIST, the ISO quality certification authority and the prime exemplar of American comedy CMMi, these last few years, it's true, the Stewart.
But Timothy, don't worry; the hiatus is only temporary. The wellsprings of American humour actually run deep. If folks look around, they may find something to satirise even today (although, of course, most major social and economic problems have now been solved!).
This is only a temporary setback. "A mere flesh wound!" --Fearless Fosdick.
But Timothy, don't worry; the hiatus is only temporary. The wellsprings of American humour actually run deep. If folks look around, they may find something to satirise even today (although, of course, most major social and economic problems have now been solved!).
This is only a temporary setback. "A mere flesh wound!" --Fearless Fosdick.
3
He's stepping outside of the media so he can prayerfully and carefully consider the possibility of the chance that he might just start a presidential bid for 2016. VP Colbert.
6
John Oliver was every bit as good as Jon Stewart last summer, but part of his shtick was pretending to be a substitute one night at a time. Could he do as well if he owned the show? I hear he is doing great on HBO, which we don't get, and is unavailable for Comedy Central on that account.
Before I discovered the Daily Show I had to look at the real news and ridicule it on my own. It was so much more fun to let Jon and his staff do the work. I hope there is another John Oliver out there who is not under contract. Things are not going to get better, and the need to laugh at them will only get greater.
Before I discovered the Daily Show I had to look at the real news and ridicule it on my own. It was so much more fun to let Jon and his staff do the work. I hope there is another John Oliver out there who is not under contract. Things are not going to get better, and the need to laugh at them will only get greater.
41
For 16 years, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show team have playfully shared with us their extraordinary critical thinking skills in a most delightful way.
Let us graciously accept this magnificent gift of elevated critical thinking and show our immense gratitude by putting our finely honed skils to good use.
Let us graciously accept this magnificent gift of elevated critical thinking and show our immense gratitude by putting our finely honed skils to good use.
16
Jon Stewart made a lot of great contributions to the pursuit of the truth, for those still engaged in that most quixotic of quests. Unfortunately, a sadly besotted majority of the public are too obsessed with celebrities, fashion and the Lifestyles of the (Very) Rich and (In)Famous to even care. Years of careful indoctrination in matters of Bods, Bucks and Brainlessness, beginning with People magazine and continuing as an endless parade of celebrity muscles, money and miscellany have fed the Kool-Aid to all to many of us. How else to explain the fact that we as a nation have been sending mostly lobbyists' lackeys to the highest offices in the land, and hardly anybody threw up? Give Jon Stewart credit for being smart enough to quit while he's ahead, before he gets old enough to start sagging and become a target for the fashion fascists who rule the media these days. And give critical review what our culture has prepared it for - the shroud.
11
As media is increasingly owned by fewer and fewer entities, it was refreshing to feel as though Viacom allowed The Daily Show no small latitude in its content. From heads of state to scientists, from artists in all forms of media to firefighters from 9/11, Mr Stewart's interviews, while not always polished, offered great insight.
However, of the many things to appreciate about Mr Stewart, paramount for me was that it was obvious he read the books of the authors who appeared on his show.
However, of the many things to appreciate about Mr Stewart, paramount for me was that it was obvious he read the books of the authors who appeared on his show.
15
For a long time Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert provided psychological medicine for those of us who see that the Emperor has no clothes. They skewered the corporate owned media and politicians who have probably not been very appreciative. Perhaps they will come to miss them too. Now that the laugh track is stopping, maybe it is time to get up and make change ourselves.
610
And thank G_d for the PBS News Hour, eh.
I can’t imagine people turning to Comedy Central lampooning the news in the days of Cronkite, Severeid, etc.
Of course one precedent was the famous Will Rogers, a political satirist on radio in the 1920s and 30s. But maybe different?
I didn't watch Stewart often, but admired his take and talent. I gave up network news---mostly weather between drug ads.
Nightly news only expanded from 15 to 30 min in 1963. CBS says, “...it revolutionized journalism...was heralded in the press and even got the attention of the president, (JFK) who gave Cronkite an exclusive interview for the debut broadcast.”
With 24/7 cable, TV changed to infotainment to fill air time, so they turn pundits and guests into hyped up hosts and glamorous personalities. Seems Brian William’s lies are sort of a national trauma. The media exaggerates its effect. It’s regrettable, but report it in full, put on another anchor and move on, already. Williams was not that interesting an anchor or reporter.
The Times had a page 1 article detailing how NBC was in panic mode and the schedule of the meetings they all held, and which top execs said what when, and even which floor of NBC they met on—all a bit of an absurd soap opera. In fact, ripe for satire on the Daily Show.
The repeal of both anti monopoly laws and the fairness doctrine has let extremism become normalized. Politicians go further out into the Twilight Zone. Somebody had to satirize our Alice in Wonderland politics.
Of course one precedent was the famous Will Rogers, a political satirist on radio in the 1920s and 30s. But maybe different?
I didn't watch Stewart often, but admired his take and talent. I gave up network news---mostly weather between drug ads.
Nightly news only expanded from 15 to 30 min in 1963. CBS says, “...it revolutionized journalism...was heralded in the press and even got the attention of the president, (JFK) who gave Cronkite an exclusive interview for the debut broadcast.”
With 24/7 cable, TV changed to infotainment to fill air time, so they turn pundits and guests into hyped up hosts and glamorous personalities. Seems Brian William’s lies are sort of a national trauma. The media exaggerates its effect. It’s regrettable, but report it in full, put on another anchor and move on, already. Williams was not that interesting an anchor or reporter.
The Times had a page 1 article detailing how NBC was in panic mode and the schedule of the meetings they all held, and which top execs said what when, and even which floor of NBC they met on—all a bit of an absurd soap opera. In fact, ripe for satire on the Daily Show.
The repeal of both anti monopoly laws and the fairness doctrine has let extremism become normalized. Politicians go further out into the Twilight Zone. Somebody had to satirize our Alice in Wonderland politics.
5
Mr. Stewart has given us quite a lot in a sort time. I'd say he's our TV version of Samuel Clemmons, only with the modern instruments of communication and presentation.
He's had a lot to do with promoting others of worth along the way which we could also thank him for. Not just promoting, but enabling as well. A Freedom Medal is warranted.
He had to endure a lot to sort through endless sound bites and talking points. I can see how it would wear down thoughtful people over time. He gets a well deserved vacation and we get stranded back in the rude reality that political operations have become. He'll be missed, but not forgotten. Thank you Mr. Stewart.. Thank you.
He's had a lot to do with promoting others of worth along the way which we could also thank him for. Not just promoting, but enabling as well. A Freedom Medal is warranted.
He had to endure a lot to sort through endless sound bites and talking points. I can see how it would wear down thoughtful people over time. He gets a well deserved vacation and we get stranded back in the rude reality that political operations have become. He'll be missed, but not forgotten. Thank you Mr. Stewart.. Thank you.
7
Oh, how I wish he would get past the door. Love that illumination...
Yes, it is painful to think of the evening hour on Comedy Central without Stewart and Colbert. We owe much to Stewart and others on the show for consistently demonstrating that you could speak truth to power (or Fox News), and do so with clever, inclusive humor. I particularly loved the use of old videotape to ridicule current disingenuous speech by sanctimonious public figures.
Above all, Stewart, his correspondents, and writers were clever and funny.
Now every time Mitch McConnell issues a dreary, deceitful utterance, I just see a turtle in his place. Humor skewers bombastic politicians far better than indignation or anger. This is Stewart's gift to us all.
Jon is intelligent, clever and funny. Hopefully, he is not unique. There are other clever and funny comedians capable of pointed satire. We need to give them all an opportunity. After all, Stewart grew into his position and a suave, down-to-earth commentator, possessed of great timing.
Lord knows, without him and others, we might all of us have gone off the deep end during the Bush years. I expect Jon will have a hand in ensuring that the right-on humor of the Daily Show endures with a new comedian.
Above all, Stewart, his correspondents, and writers were clever and funny.
Now every time Mitch McConnell issues a dreary, deceitful utterance, I just see a turtle in his place. Humor skewers bombastic politicians far better than indignation or anger. This is Stewart's gift to us all.
Jon is intelligent, clever and funny. Hopefully, he is not unique. There are other clever and funny comedians capable of pointed satire. We need to give them all an opportunity. After all, Stewart grew into his position and a suave, down-to-earth commentator, possessed of great timing.
Lord knows, without him and others, we might all of us have gone off the deep end during the Bush years. I expect Jon will have a hand in ensuring that the right-on humor of the Daily Show endures with a new comedian.
6
It's even worse than Egan says. PBS and NPR were supposed to be a serious alternative to the commercial networks, but one look at their advertisers - excuse me, underwriters - reveal why they are now just as much vehicles as the commercial media for promoting corporate and establishment shills. Especially now that Bil Moyers is off the air, it's hard to find dissenting voices, humorous or otherwise, on public radio and TV,.
32
The sad fact is that without corporate "underwriting" PBS would fold like a cheap suit. Many watch but too few contribute.
1
Mancuroc, Have you noticed how PBS shows all end minutes earlier than they used to, to give more time for their commercials for their sponsors?
We have to trace the corporate underwriting of our public media to deliberate underfunding by congress over years. So once starved for funds the corporations step in, and there has to be some influence on programs. Just like with under funding, they can influence our govt agencies and regulators.
Isn't it true that other countries fund their public TV/radio at a much higher level? This goes along with their public funding of their elections, vs our private funding of our candidates, and thus private influence for private aims.
The whole original purpose of our public broadcasting in the 60s was to offer a counterweight to commercial interest dominance of media. This was seen as a worthy aim and got national support.
We have to trace the corporate underwriting of our public media to deliberate underfunding by congress over years. So once starved for funds the corporations step in, and there has to be some influence on programs. Just like with under funding, they can influence our govt agencies and regulators.
Isn't it true that other countries fund their public TV/radio at a much higher level? This goes along with their public funding of their elections, vs our private funding of our candidates, and thus private influence for private aims.
The whole original purpose of our public broadcasting in the 60s was to offer a counterweight to commercial interest dominance of media. This was seen as a worthy aim and got national support.
1
Yes, it's sad to see Jon Stewart go, but the Daily Show isn't going to just die as everyone here seems to think. There are many very talented, funny, politically savvy comedians in this country who could do a very good job in his role, as John Oliver amply demonstrated last summer. And the basic infrastructure of the Daily Show -- the researchers, producers, writers, correspondents -- will most likely remain more-or-less intact. True, Stewart steered the ship and was the face of the operation, but the jokes and commentary we all loved were the result of contributions from many others. A fresh face and perspective could actually be a great boon for the show; certainly I felt that was the case with John Oliver last summer. The Daily Show is bigger than Jon Stewart, and I fully expect it to continue to be relevant and hilarious for years to come.
20
Great op-ed. The biggest truths regards the idea that modern nightly "news"-casts are essentially launching pads for the latest pharmaceuticals, and that everyone is baiting for clicks.
Stewart vents frustrations and anxieties held by millions of Americans, and has especially done so for the last 8-10 years. His show's ability to sift, analyze, and synthesize from so many different news sources to produce such a high quality satirical-news-filled product day-in-day-out speaks volumes about the system he operates in.
If he sought power, he'd be corrupted. The US system seems to corrupt anyone almost absolutely. We've been at constant war for 14 years with no end in sight. Corporations hold most the money and power and want more. Stewart, and those like him (Maher, Colbert, Oliver, Wilmore, Jones&Bee) can only speak truth out of power.
If anything, people should turn to those in power to address their anxieties and fears. The comedians have just highlighted and provided catharsis for what can only really be solved by public policy and just laws. Which, as I write, brings to the surface that I am wrong, and Mr. Egan is right.
Stewart should run for office. And any other person with an empathic bone lining their body should as well. Because, honestly, if we keep sending the same people, the wars will not end, the fears will be taken advantage of, the anxiety will grow, and grow, and well, things don't grow forever. They eventually, inevitably, unpredictably burst.
Stewart vents frustrations and anxieties held by millions of Americans, and has especially done so for the last 8-10 years. His show's ability to sift, analyze, and synthesize from so many different news sources to produce such a high quality satirical-news-filled product day-in-day-out speaks volumes about the system he operates in.
If he sought power, he'd be corrupted. The US system seems to corrupt anyone almost absolutely. We've been at constant war for 14 years with no end in sight. Corporations hold most the money and power and want more. Stewart, and those like him (Maher, Colbert, Oliver, Wilmore, Jones&Bee) can only speak truth out of power.
If anything, people should turn to those in power to address their anxieties and fears. The comedians have just highlighted and provided catharsis for what can only really be solved by public policy and just laws. Which, as I write, brings to the surface that I am wrong, and Mr. Egan is right.
Stewart should run for office. And any other person with an empathic bone lining their body should as well. Because, honestly, if we keep sending the same people, the wars will not end, the fears will be taken advantage of, the anxiety will grow, and grow, and well, things don't grow forever. They eventually, inevitably, unpredictably burst.
12
It's amazing how far into the future of this country Paddy Chayefsky saw when he wrote his screenplay, "Network." He was the oracle at Delphi. Yet if he were alive today even Chayefsky would probably be taken back how America dumbs down in its cultural decline. Jon Stewart will be greatly missed. But at least Stewart signed off more gracefully and certainly less dramatically than how demented Howard Beale did when the suits could no longer tolerate his staggering ratings. Brian Williams got off rather easy and should thank his lucky stars. Stewart saw how Orwellian the news cycle has become. His classic schtick of a deadpan stunned gaze with a hipster attitude was his only defense mechanism against a country that has lost its moorings and its moral compass. And his fans got the zeitgeist he based his performance on. Laughing definitely beats crying on the way down.
135
What a nice editorial, saying that Ted Cruz has no brains. I rather suspect that if it came to it, Ted Cruz would walk all over Tim Egan in the brains category.
4
Or not.
7
on what planet
2
Cruz might be hiding some intellectual capacity - who knows?
But it's obvious he doesn't expect to find much intellectual capacity in the people he talks to.
But it's obvious he doesn't expect to find much intellectual capacity in the people he talks to.
5
Pithy writing is Egan's metier, His farewell to Jon Stewart reads the way Twain might have written it: crisp phrasings, quick jokes, and what the Renaissance writers called "true wit", something new and not refurbed. Alexander Pope prized "what oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed". A zillion articles and talking heads galore are singing Stewart's praises this week, but few as originally as Egan's piece does. And isn't that what Stewart did, compress and purify what millions wished we could express about Stewart's show, the chief source for news for college-age kids and older middle class and professionals. Anti-FOX, thoughful, and dynamite.
Without Mr. Egan, Mr, Bruni, Mr. Blow, Mr. Kristoff and Ms. Collins, the NYT seems bloodless. Maybe we can hire Jon Stewart to add some hemoglobinous mock-reporting.
Without Mr. Egan, Mr, Bruni, Mr. Blow, Mr. Kristoff and Ms. Collins, the NYT seems bloodless. Maybe we can hire Jon Stewart to add some hemoglobinous mock-reporting.
32
Actually, the claim tha a lot of t folks, particularly young people, use the Daily Show as their primary news source. Pew polling demonstrates that twice as many people between the ages of 18-29 get their news from the CBS Evening News than from the Daily Show.
Perhaps more of the folks making such claims should reconsider their own news sources.
Perhaps more of the folks making such claims should reconsider their own news sources.
On Tuesday after the Big Announcement, Jon asked the plaintive question, "Did I die?" To which I say, "Yes, Jon, in a sense, you did. I could not be more inconsolable than if you were a dear friend who had just told me that he had just been diagnosed with cancer. I know you're bored. I know you miss eating dinner with your family. I understand your reasons for leaving, although why you want to leave just before the next big election, when there will be clown cars to mock and Hillary to call to task, I can't begin to understand. But I will miss you, my dear friend, because you've been a member of my family, too."
712
I suggested to Jon via twitter (like he reads my tweets) that perhaps he could at least do two one-hour shows a week, say, on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Anything, any little piece will do, Jon!! I feel like he died too. I actually felt sick to my stomach and had to swallow the lump in my throat the first several times I heard people talking about it. I"m sure I could cry over his departure without any trouble too, though I've managed not to so far....
Jill Duncan
Denver, CO
Jill Duncan
Denver, CO
Amen! to Jackie's statement.
Well said Jackie. Thank you.
It's impossible to respond to all the bizarre thinking, the corrupted moral absolutism in a piece like this and I was wondering how to respond to the unending nonsense. And then I spied this: \\“Where will I get my news every night?” asked Bill Clinton, in a tweet following Stewart’s announcement.//
It's bad enough that Clinton said it in his nauseatingly glad-handed way, but then Egan feels compelled to quote it?
News? What is news anymore? Does the NYT have a clue? Or is it all about agenda from here on out?
I can't speak for Stewart but I wonder if he's quitting in order to escape the crushing idoelogical demands of his increasingly desperate audience.
It's bad enough that Clinton said it in his nauseatingly glad-handed way, but then Egan feels compelled to quote it?
News? What is news anymore? Does the NYT have a clue? Or is it all about agenda from here on out?
I can't speak for Stewart but I wonder if he's quitting in order to escape the crushing idoelogical demands of his increasingly desperate audience.
3
DougalE;
Slow down there - take a breath.
Slow down there - take a breath.
2
Colbert and Stewart have taught us how to see, and to see through. Now it's up to us to remember and to act. That's the lesson.
30
Re. "Can anyone act on a stock-buying tip from Jim Cramer, the CNBC host, after Stewart showed him promoting garbage before the financial collapse on a show that tries to make funny with your money, barking “buy, buy, buy!” while banging a gong?"
Yes, absolutely! Cramer is alive and well, touting stocks in an easy money driven bull market just like he was before the financial collapse that began in September 2008. And people must be buying what he is selling because he would not still be on the air if nobody was tuning in.
And Stewart's takedown of Cramer was on March 9, 2009 as we were approaching the depth of the financial collapse, not before it. Kudos to Mr. Stewart for what he did, but it was well after the damage had been done. Maybe it made an impression on a few people. But apparently not too many because Cramer and what he is hawking is almost as popular now as our easy money driven markets.
There were credible journalists that sounded the alarm about the perils of the sub-prime market, synthetic CDOs, CDSs, etc. well before the 2008 crash, but they got the attention of precious few. And the lessons suggested by Mr. Stewart's takedown of Cramer have apparently been lost on most. But not on Claudio Borio, the head of the Bank of International Settlements monetary and economists who warned in December 2014 about growing fragility hidden beneath the markets' buoyancy saying "The highly abnormal is becoming uncomfortably normal."
Yes, absolutely! Cramer is alive and well, touting stocks in an easy money driven bull market just like he was before the financial collapse that began in September 2008. And people must be buying what he is selling because he would not still be on the air if nobody was tuning in.
And Stewart's takedown of Cramer was on March 9, 2009 as we were approaching the depth of the financial collapse, not before it. Kudos to Mr. Stewart for what he did, but it was well after the damage had been done. Maybe it made an impression on a few people. But apparently not too many because Cramer and what he is hawking is almost as popular now as our easy money driven markets.
There were credible journalists that sounded the alarm about the perils of the sub-prime market, synthetic CDOs, CDSs, etc. well before the 2008 crash, but they got the attention of precious few. And the lessons suggested by Mr. Stewart's takedown of Cramer have apparently been lost on most. But not on Claudio Borio, the head of the Bank of International Settlements monetary and economists who warned in December 2014 about growing fragility hidden beneath the markets' buoyancy saying "The highly abnormal is becoming uncomfortably normal."
2
'Scuse me, but Senator Franken has not foresworn his formidable comedic talents in favor of a bloodless political career. He was and still remains "Good enough, smart enough" and doggonit, people still like him! How could any sentient person navigate the current political climate without a healthy dose of humor to counter the prevailing and pernicious false realities?
Stewart and Colbert were crucial anchors in a roiling sea of self-serving disinformation and outright lies. Without them I fear despair. I may soon write imploring letters to Sen. Frankin pleading him to put that satellite dish on his head again and hone in on the truth.
Stewart and Colbert were crucial anchors in a roiling sea of self-serving disinformation and outright lies. Without them I fear despair. I may soon write imploring letters to Sen. Frankin pleading him to put that satellite dish on his head again and hone in on the truth.
87
It has occurred to me, as SNL celebrates its big anniversary this year, that Al Franken was far ahead of his time. The decade of Al Franken, and his character viewing world events solely through his own narcissistic prism, wouldn't be funny today because it's the norm.
"When you see a news report, you'll be thinking, 'I wonder what Al Franken thinks about this thing?', 'I wonder how this inflation thing is hurting Al Franken?' "
"When you see a news report, you'll be thinking, 'I wonder what Al Franken thinks about this thing?', 'I wonder how this inflation thing is hurting Al Franken?' "
3
Maybe we can have a second Al Franken Decade.
2
Jon Stewart was the captain of our national jungle boat ride, and all the animatronics were the politicians and media that kept getting the robotic rhino horn. Without Stewart, I wonder if we'll know the back side of water from the front anymore. All I know is that after 16 years, we're about to return to the most dangerous part of the ride--civilization.
Thanks for being our real pilot through an ersatz jungle, Jon.
Thanks for being our real pilot through an ersatz jungle, Jon.
28
Dr. Bob Solomon says it for me. Tim Egan's tightly packaged commentary today
is great. I am nearly 92 and a political and international news junkie so the good
TV journalists, and there are a few, make my days. Sometimes I picture a rack of long haired pieces hanging on racks for some of the feather-brains to grab and hang down to their belly-buttons before they go on camera to read their lines.
But we still have Andrea Mitchell and Wolf Blitzer as well as some brave
foreign correspondents in the field.
is great. I am nearly 92 and a political and international news junkie so the good
TV journalists, and there are a few, make my days. Sometimes I picture a rack of long haired pieces hanging on racks for some of the feather-brains to grab and hang down to their belly-buttons before they go on camera to read their lines.
But we still have Andrea Mitchell and Wolf Blitzer as well as some brave
foreign correspondents in the field.
John Stewart is the one-person Consumer Protection Bureau for news. He has gently, but nevertheless efficiently, exposed the mainstream news media for what it has become - a vehicle for spin, sponsors and mindless advertizing. If CNN, NBC and Fox had any self-respect, they would provide two one-hour segments of news, one in the morning and one in the evening. And leave the rest of the day for travel shows, soap operas and sitcoms. Stop trying to fill the entire day with spin and opinion - this IS what is hurting America.
383
I can't wait for the first angry conservative post denying that they're not funny.
23
Dont know if anyone is looking to deny their talent. I will say that the partisan liberals on this thread who are lionizing Colbert and Stewart would not find them funny at all if they were conservative instead of liberal. That is quite clear from the comments here. If Stewart was a conservative, he would be despised by the very same people who are worshiping him here.
2
"Stewart didn’t degrade politics and the press. He walked through a degraded landscape, the tour guide who’s also a smartass. "
Fantastic summation of Stewart's time on the Daily Show.
Fantastic summation of Stewart's time on the Daily Show.
85
Jon Stewart?
I never watched him. But not that I dislike him--I just never watch television. But you always hear about him and I certainly appreciate what he does. I don't think people realize how difficult it is just to do something right for once. I don't think I really appreciated it. But I sort of understand tonight, writing this...I got into a fistfight with one of my roommates where I live (house with bunch of people renting); I just got tired of the way he treats his ex-girlfriend's dogs (she owns house). I caught him hitting one dog tonight and things resulted in a comedy of two over 50 guys swinging away. I can tell you it's not recommended to get in a fistfight at age 50.
The point is standing up for something can cost you. I have to move now from where I live and don't even know if in meantime my possessions are safe not to mention if I'm safe. It's easy to understand if the average person just goes along with so much of the nonsense in society because one person is just one person and you can pay a real price for sticking your nose into things. So it really is nice when a person such as Stewart can rise up to stick his nose into things and have a laugh about things. There are always things in society which are truly horrible to contemplate. I have to live knowing that my moving from where I live now results in the guy I fought still living in the same house with the dogs that I tried to defend. We need more people to make us laugh, address things at same time.
I never watched him. But not that I dislike him--I just never watch television. But you always hear about him and I certainly appreciate what he does. I don't think people realize how difficult it is just to do something right for once. I don't think I really appreciated it. But I sort of understand tonight, writing this...I got into a fistfight with one of my roommates where I live (house with bunch of people renting); I just got tired of the way he treats his ex-girlfriend's dogs (she owns house). I caught him hitting one dog tonight and things resulted in a comedy of two over 50 guys swinging away. I can tell you it's not recommended to get in a fistfight at age 50.
The point is standing up for something can cost you. I have to move now from where I live and don't even know if in meantime my possessions are safe not to mention if I'm safe. It's easy to understand if the average person just goes along with so much of the nonsense in society because one person is just one person and you can pay a real price for sticking your nose into things. So it really is nice when a person such as Stewart can rise up to stick his nose into things and have a laugh about things. There are always things in society which are truly horrible to contemplate. I have to live knowing that my moving from where I live now results in the guy I fought still living in the same house with the dogs that I tried to defend. We need more people to make us laugh, address things at same time.
13
I feel for you. Kudos for standing up for the defenseless pups and good luck on moving forward (and elsewhere).
The problem, as Mr. Egan points out, is that network TV news has become puerile, insipid, pablum for the masses. ABC shills for Disney, NBC for Viacom and CBS for Sony. They are shameless hucksters for the mediocre entertainment products of their parent companies--or in the case of FOX just a mouthpiece for cynical billionaires who are trying to get all the marbles. I am disgusted beyond words by the lack of integrity of network news--it's like everyone just stopped caring.
257
NBC shills for Comcast..worse
4
"Nancy Pelosi will demonstrate that humor impairment is bipartisan."
I stopped reading when I got to this line. As a woman, in the past I found it so annoying that Rep. Pelosi seemed to always have a smile plastered on her face. (I even made a comment about that in a comment to the Times where I said she should run for president.) Why? Because I believe that women shouldn't need to have to smile to be taken seriously in politics.
But, well, apparently Mr. Egan you think Ms. Pelosi DOES need to put a smile on her face to be taken seriously . Would you EVER say a male politician was "humorless?" Heck no! Does Ms. Pelosi need to keep a silly smile on her face to humor men like you who just can't *bear* to listen to a woman? I have a feeling that you can't bear to listen to a woman. Period.
Well, I just can't bear to read a man who can't bear to listen to "humorless" women. Whatever that means! (I'd love to know.)
I stopped reading when I got to this line. As a woman, in the past I found it so annoying that Rep. Pelosi seemed to always have a smile plastered on her face. (I even made a comment about that in a comment to the Times where I said she should run for president.) Why? Because I believe that women shouldn't need to have to smile to be taken seriously in politics.
But, well, apparently Mr. Egan you think Ms. Pelosi DOES need to put a smile on her face to be taken seriously . Would you EVER say a male politician was "humorless?" Heck no! Does Ms. Pelosi need to keep a silly smile on her face to humor men like you who just can't *bear* to listen to a woman? I have a feeling that you can't bear to listen to a woman. Period.
Well, I just can't bear to read a man who can't bear to listen to "humorless" women. Whatever that means! (I'd love to know.)
2
Tim Egan and others have commented numerous times on the humor impairment of Mitch McConnell and other male politicians.
6
I agree. I've seen Nancy Pelosi on TV several times, and she comes across as intelligent, articulate and always a good sport. I didn't get this bit either.
3
This column is fiercely critical of a dozen men and one woman. I'm not sure that's good evidence that the columnist is biased against women.
3
I despair of getting through the upcoming election cycle without Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert
124
I love Jon Stewart. He, along with Stephen Colbert, have injected TV with much-needed shots of honesty and hilarity over the past decade-and-a-half. But let's face it: Jon's show has felt tired lately, and he has seemed more than a little restless and even bored with it all. He can still skewer vapid media personalities and hypocritical politicians with the best of them, but too often the shows fall flat. He's one of TV's all-time greats, and he's leaving at the right time.
1
The best way to unmask the lies and exaggerations and other stupid things that politicians routinely say, is by way of the Comics 'telling the truth', unmasking the charlatans by irony, innuendo, and cutting them to size. In other words, Comics are essential to keep our democratic fabric from becoming too stiff and self-satisfied, too complacent for their own good, too entitled to care.
10
I'm sorry to see Stewart go too, but there's a positive way of looking at his departure. Now that he won't be there anymore to make us laugh at the people destroying our country, we'll have to take it more seriously, and do something.
8
I, like just about every progressive in the US, hate to see Jon and Stephen leave the arena. They have both set standards that will be hard to surpass, and we are all the better for it.
Jon must be exhausted after sixteen years. He deserves the chance to refresh and regenerate.
Jon will surprise us all with a new way of looking at this world and this country. I sense a restless curiosity in him; he will find a new path.
Thanks, Jon!
Jon must be exhausted after sixteen years. He deserves the chance to refresh and regenerate.
Jon will surprise us all with a new way of looking at this world and this country. I sense a restless curiosity in him; he will find a new path.
Thanks, Jon!
24
The Senate for John Stewart? Not big enough. Look for him to form an exploratory committee in August, declare for the presidency in October, and win in Iowa next January!
5
Jon Stewart's contribution was not just his comedic genius, but that he exposed the tabloid nature of what most broadcast media present as news. With the exception of PBS and NPR, commercial broadcast news has become a product that is sold to the public, just like headache pills and pet food. These news outlets have to make money. They have to attract sponsors and viewers who will buy the sponsor's products.
Consequently, the news is filled with coverage of pundits and politicians that have no business teaching second graders how to color and stay within the lines. But revenue seeking media pushes these clowns into the public spotlight. That exposure helps the stars of the freak show attain high public office.
The freakshow players gave him plenty of daily material. It is so sad that the carnival crowd actually takes themselves seriously. Stewart showed us that we should not.
Consequently, the news is filled with coverage of pundits and politicians that have no business teaching second graders how to color and stay within the lines. But revenue seeking media pushes these clowns into the public spotlight. That exposure helps the stars of the freak show attain high public office.
The freakshow players gave him plenty of daily material. It is so sad that the carnival crowd actually takes themselves seriously. Stewart showed us that we should not.
49
Who will take on Roger Ailes (aka two ton man) clowns and bouffant bimbos who rant and rave on fix news every night pretending to be legitimate reporters? Who will poke fun of the never ending clown show called CNN pretend news driving around in their blizzard car relating their inept version of high school reporting? Jon we will miss you.
32
The beauty of Jon Stewart's "fake news" is that is the news he presents isn't fake at all--he tells it like it is, and has us shaking our heads at the stupidity of much of it. He is, in a sense, America's court jester who can tell anyone the truth-as-humor and get away with it.
207
Where will we get our news?
17
I was (fill in the blank -- saddened, horrified, sick at heart) to learn that Jon is leaving us in the lurch. Who, if anyone, will replace him? Where, if anywhere, will we get an actual picture of what's going on in this madhouse of a country, AND get to laugh through our tears instead of tear out our hair?
In addition, it seems odd (scary?) that in this month we have major news media people leaving their posts (Jon), getting fired (Brian Williams), getting killed in car accidents (Bob Simon), and just now we learn that David Carr of the Times essentially died at his desk. Who or what is next?
In addition, it seems odd (scary?) that in this month we have major news media people leaving their posts (Jon), getting fired (Brian Williams), getting killed in car accidents (Bob Simon), and just now we learn that David Carr of the Times essentially died at his desk. Who or what is next?
15
Diana.....You sound hysterical. Supernatural forces maybe?Please consider some therapy or some deep breathing and restoration of perspective. Maybe turn off your TV for a while, and read a good book. Or jog. Who or what next? The media will provide the next update of sad, horrific events.
1
He skewered Fox News but left MSNBC alone. Fox News at least has a constant stream of liberal guests. MSNBC hardly has any conservative guests.
And the man that deserved to be skewered and ridiculed on a weekly basis, Al Sharpton, was never skewered. Instead, he was a guest on the show.
That alone, in my mind, made Stewart both a phony and a coward.
And the man that deserved to be skewered and ridiculed on a weekly basis, Al Sharpton, was never skewered. Instead, he was a guest on the show.
That alone, in my mind, made Stewart both a phony and a coward.
10
I cannot believe the Times, in its never-ending quest for "balance", gave your comment a pick.
Of course Stewart mocked MSNBC.
In fact, just a few weeks ago, there was a bit mocking Chris Hayes and the blizzard.
And MSNBC has a former RNC leader as an analyst, as well as Joe Scarborough, a former Republican Congressman, with his own show.
And I am sure if you checked the archives, you would have found something poking fun at Sharpton.
Stewart also had conservative guests on his show.
As Sharpton has said: "Nice try, but we gotcha".
Of course Stewart mocked MSNBC.
In fact, just a few weeks ago, there was a bit mocking Chris Hayes and the blizzard.
And MSNBC has a former RNC leader as an analyst, as well as Joe Scarborough, a former Republican Congressman, with his own show.
And I am sure if you checked the archives, you would have found something poking fun at Sharpton.
Stewart also had conservative guests on his show.
As Sharpton has said: "Nice try, but we gotcha".
37
Left MSNBC alone? You can't be serious. He did tons of pieces on MSNBC. They might not have been as pointed or as hard handed as his bits on Fox, but even that is very subjective.
Phony and a coward? He's a political satirist. Aren't phoniness and cowardice part of his job description:)
Phony and a coward? He's a political satirist. Aren't phoniness and cowardice part of his job description:)
10
He had John McCain on the show several times, treating him very respectfully each time. And yes, he did criticize CNN. If he didn't land on Sharpton with more force (he did at one point interview "Al" who was really Stephen Colbert and make fun of both his weight and bring up the tax charges), perhaps it's because he was smart enough to recognize that while Sharpton is an opportunist, he was brought up in the Ferguson case to deflect attention from the questions that needed to be asked. I didn't agree with him on everything. But whenever someone, liberal or conservative, says "that alone" it's clear that he will be missed in our polarized and utterly shallow conversations about politics and public issues.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/10/12/jon_stewart_makes_fun_...
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/10/12/jon_stewart_makes_fun_...
15
Bill Moyers, Colbert, and now Jon Stewart. I'm devastated. Will Bill Maher be next?
19
I just learned Bill Moyers is retiring. His was THE show for the non commercial truth. He brought a perspective from a past age, before commercial interests started to totally dominate both politics and media. PBS is under commercial pressure too, but at least kept up some of it's standards to give us his program. They should just replay all his shows from the past, in a continuous rerun, to educate new generations.
136
Yes, Bill Moyers gave us depth, understanding and let his guests develop their issues to educate us all. Who is the successor for Bill Moyers? This is a serious question because that younger person should have emerged by now. I saw a few come on PBS on various news shows, but they did not stick.....
Was is Bill's gentle style and the personal way he treated his guests during an interview? Who will lead the quest for real information and discussion?
Was is Bill's gentle style and the personal way he treated his guests during an interview? Who will lead the quest for real information and discussion?
3
I see how Jon Stewart became Americans' news source; he drove home the absurdities we all sensed under the more somber or contentious presentations. We can't scream or cry all the time, we need some levity, too.
9
This is what so many conservatives who bash - or instantly disregard - The Daily Show miss. It's main targets aren't conservatives *because* they're conservatives. Its main target is, and always has been, the media, which makes a horse race of everything and acts as though "balance" is more important than "facts". Sure, political hypocrisy and shameful opportunism also comes in for a fair amount of mockery (and yes, he does hit both sides), but even then, it's often really a critique of the media that never calls out anyone for it, because they're afraid of losing "access".
Anyone familiar with them may know that while Fox is ridiculed for its blatant partisan distortion, no news outlet comes in for more abuse than CNN, which doesn't even have the excuse of an ideological agenda to explain its utter abandonment of reporting in favor of wild speculation, social media cluelessness, and inexplicable holographic gimmicks.
Anyone familiar with them may know that while Fox is ridiculed for its blatant partisan distortion, no news outlet comes in for more abuse than CNN, which doesn't even have the excuse of an ideological agenda to explain its utter abandonment of reporting in favor of wild speculation, social media cluelessness, and inexplicable holographic gimmicks.
819
I recently stumbled upon CNN while channel surfing. I had forgotten it existed. Maybe I thought it had disappeared in some media takeover. No, it's still there. I was surprised. I hadn't heard it mentioned in years. Does Anderson Cooper still work there?
2
SO, SO true and well said. Wolf and CNN's "Situation Room" are far more indicative of the problem with media than FOX, which is just an embarrassment to itself in the eyes of any person with a modicum of intelligence. Alarmist, shallow, talking head, "neutral" pablum for the masses, unfortunately is what sells as "News" in our society. But the sadder part is that this is, at the end of the day, actually a telling reflection of the vast majority of the viewing public, who have neither the attention span nor the desire for any meaningful critical analysis necessary to reach informed decisions on what is the actual "truth" of world events, which are often very challengingly complex.
5
Dave, to buy your premise one would have to believe that it is a coincidence that the folks who do not share Stewart's partisan views are also more prone to "hypocrisy and shameful opportunism". How convenient.
Stewart is a very talented person, but he is also a rigid partisan. His partisanship is what make the folks commenting here passionate, not his talent. The comments speak for themselves. They are pretty much the same: kind of silly lionization of a comedian, a gross overstatement of his influence and then a string of complaints about Fox News and ad hominem attacks against Republicans who have been out of office nearly ten years.
If Stewart were a conservative, the folks here would hate him. If Limbaugh was a liberal, the folks here would love him. It is all about partisanship and Stewart's talent is the side attraction.
Stewart is a very talented person, but he is also a rigid partisan. His partisanship is what make the folks commenting here passionate, not his talent. The comments speak for themselves. They are pretty much the same: kind of silly lionization of a comedian, a gross overstatement of his influence and then a string of complaints about Fox News and ad hominem attacks against Republicans who have been out of office nearly ten years.
If Stewart were a conservative, the folks here would hate him. If Limbaugh was a liberal, the folks here would love him. It is all about partisanship and Stewart's talent is the side attraction.
The recent departure of Colbert and the pending one of Stewart should compel us to demand more from our "real news" and "real politics" programs, as we know that it's both unrealistic and unfair to expect John Oliver to carry such an enormous responsibility largely by himself. Fox News not only provides the fish, it seems to provide the barrel and (of course) the firearm as well. Stewart was spot on per usual about Ailes and his network, which had it existed in the early 1970s may have tried to save Nixon and his criminal operation by distracting us with their hot air and counter-narrative. Some of us lament the fact that Stewart and his brilliant team were far less successful than Tina Fey in driving an odious presence off the meaningful political stage. Fox News and its ilk have been wounded by the Colbert Report and the Daily Show, but those outlets are a much tougher adversary than one failed Alaska politician.
425
You forgot Bill Maher. Oliver is much more "anti-corporate" and doesn't tread into politics with the frequency and ferocity Maher does.
2
We cannot demand more of our "real" news programs because they no longer exist. When we're in a situation in which the "managing editor" of the most popular nightly news program is so insecure about his lack of experience as an actual reporter that he feels an emotional need to embellish his legend, we're in deep trouble. There are news readers and journalist/reporters, and "never the twain shall meet".
1
"Compel us to demand..." Switch off. It's called the free-market. Dollars get a response; moans don't. Start a movement. I'll join.
1
Tim Egan nailed it and President Clinton's tweet was right on -- where will we get the news after Stewart leaves the airwaves?
He's always been willing to say "the emperor has no clothes" without regard to who that "emperor" is -- politician, celebrity, president, Fox Noise, etc. and now we face the 2016 election minus the one person on TV we could really trust to tell it like it is.
He's always been willing to say "the emperor has no clothes" without regard to who that "emperor" is -- politician, celebrity, president, Fox Noise, etc. and now we face the 2016 election minus the one person on TV we could really trust to tell it like it is.
25
Fortunately, thankfully, there's money to be made mocking politicians and the press (e.g., The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Last Week Tonight). The faces may change, but the mockery will continue and it can't help but be funny......there's just so much material.
6
"And “Crossfire,” the original shout-fest on CNN that tried to prove there are no 50 shades of gray in cable’s view of politics, only one dimension of wrong, was left exposed and shamefaced for what it is after Stewart told the hosts to “stop hurting America.”
Does Egan really think his hyperpartisan rants which are frequently based on ad hominem attacks and grade school name calling are any different from those of the Crossfire pundits of that age? The utter lack of self awareness is staggering.
Does Egan really think his hyperpartisan rants which are frequently based on ad hominem attacks and grade school name calling are any different from those of the Crossfire pundits of that age? The utter lack of self awareness is staggering.
Hyperpartisan rants? More like calling it like he sees it.
The Crossfire learned sages, as with quite a lot of the so called political "experts" are pretty full of themselves and pointing that out is necessary from time to time. Sad that there appears to be a conservative bias (not exclusive to them however) toward the absurdly stupid end of the spectrum but you are free to see it as you want.
The Crossfire learned sages, as with quite a lot of the so called political "experts" are pretty full of themselves and pointing that out is necessary from time to time. Sad that there appears to be a conservative bias (not exclusive to them however) toward the absurdly stupid end of the spectrum but you are free to see it as you want.
5
The utter lack of understanding of comedy vs. news is also staggering. If you couldn't see beyond the surface, that's not Stewart's fault.
7
Mr. Egan:
Nice paean to Mr. Steart and his show. He will be missed.His positions always provoked thought and informed discussion. What passes for news elsewhere is more of a joke than any he told. That was where his brilliance lay,
he didn't embellish the obsurdity, he knew he only had to create the proper context, the obsurdity itself would do the rest.
Nice paean to Mr. Steart and his show. He will be missed.His positions always provoked thought and informed discussion. What passes for news elsewhere is more of a joke than any he told. That was where his brilliance lay,
he didn't embellish the obsurdity, he knew he only had to create the proper context, the obsurdity itself would do the rest.
15
Thank you Jon Stewart and thank you Tim Egan. It's nice to see proof that not everyone in the world is an idiot.
49
MG, perhaps not everyone in the world. But we have a lot of them in this country.
1
I don't see broadcast media, I read news; and I used to write to friends with the point of view advanced here, while seldom getting a reply, until a college kid with a television invited me to watch some important broadcast during the 2008 election. "But first I want to show you the Daily Show," of which I'd never heard. It was a revelation, it was thrilling to come face to face with my redundancy, and I didn't mind a bit. This has been very close to a necessary broadcast, which I've been glad to be able to access in online clips. I still don't understand how the prevailing horrors have withstood it, and so naturally I wish it could have continued.
15
Stewart knew more than others because he knew he did not have the answers while others thought they did, and demonstrated to us and every so often to them that they didnt. He used humor to unveil absurdity as well as going for laughs. He mocked technicalities and political gfgossip and used questioning to get to fundamental issues and decision points.
Because our politics is frequently absurd, highlighting it with humor reveals the truth, while normal coverage of the news is part of the absurdity and rarely does it justice. Serious people become parodies of themselves and comedians reveal the truth. The emperor has no clothes, and in reality he never did.
Because our politics is frequently absurd, highlighting it with humor reveals the truth, while normal coverage of the news is part of the absurdity and rarely does it justice. Serious people become parodies of themselves and comedians reveal the truth. The emperor has no clothes, and in reality he never did.
12
Failing to hold our broadcast media to a higher standard shows how hypocritical we are. We say we want them to report the news in depth, with the seriousness it deserves and without bias, but we don't.
Just try listening to one BBC world news podcast for five minutes without becoming distracted. Couldn't do it, could you? Felt the need to check Facebook or Twitter or something else while you were "listening"? American media personalities know this, which is why they're so good at entertaining you by pushing your left-wing or right-wing buttons. Because they know you want to be satisfied, not informed, and are they the experts at it.
So when we go after the media for not being serious, the ones we really need to go after are ourselves.
Just try listening to one BBC world news podcast for five minutes without becoming distracted. Couldn't do it, could you? Felt the need to check Facebook or Twitter or something else while you were "listening"? American media personalities know this, which is why they're so good at entertaining you by pushing your left-wing or right-wing buttons. Because they know you want to be satisfied, not informed, and are they the experts at it.
So when we go after the media for not being serious, the ones we really need to go after are ourselves.
540
Give it a rest! That's like asking the Russian people to blame themselves for the treatment they got from the Soviet government. We, too, are in a totally propagandized culture with a split between that portion which is commercial and that portion which is governmental. You're just citing those people who are one to two generations away from even being interested in the news and saying it's all Facebook's fault. Someone got the American public to the point of accepting these other mind numbers. They decided to make a country dumb through propaganda and succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Now we're just farmed animals who consume and vote and some of us go to their gulag.
3
I listen to the BBC whenever I can (and read the Guardian). It's US "news" which, as far as I can tell, really isn't "news" anymore, that I can't tolerate listening to. It's nails on a chalk board.
4
Although I agree, to an extent it is a chicken/egg discussion. Did the media shape us or did we shape the media? Or did political agendas shape the media which then shaped/conditioned us?
2
I don't know how we replace this man. The horrifying thing is that the companies and people that Jon skewered so well all these years have only gotten stronger.
Maybe it's time to take another look at FCC regulations, and how they were dismantled under Bill Clinton in order to allow concentration of power. Six companies control 90% of content. Anchors are all Brian Williams- the "talent", which mostly consists of smelling which way the wind is blowing upstairs.
If you want to complain, where do you go? Call the head of CBS or Fox? Write a letter to the editor of USA Today? Those who are repelled by the nightly assaults on our intelligence are now just an irrelevant niche.
Blogs and video comics need to step up their games. The people running this country- and this does not mean the politicians- think they have us all handled. Maybe not. Let's begin to describe them as the greed crazed and illegitimate predators that they are. And the higher you get, the scarier it becomes. That's where you find buzzards like Cheney and Koch.
Maybe it's time to take another look at FCC regulations, and how they were dismantled under Bill Clinton in order to allow concentration of power. Six companies control 90% of content. Anchors are all Brian Williams- the "talent", which mostly consists of smelling which way the wind is blowing upstairs.
If you want to complain, where do you go? Call the head of CBS or Fox? Write a letter to the editor of USA Today? Those who are repelled by the nightly assaults on our intelligence are now just an irrelevant niche.
Blogs and video comics need to step up their games. The people running this country- and this does not mean the politicians- think they have us all handled. Maybe not. Let's begin to describe them as the greed crazed and illegitimate predators that they are. And the higher you get, the scarier it becomes. That's where you find buzzards like Cheney and Koch.
420
The bloated spiders, in their webs, spun to deceive us into voting against our own interest;, to watch the violence-porn circuses; to eat the bread that makes us all obese diabetics; to give up in despair of ever making a change.
THIS is what we must fight against!
Fall Down 9 times, Get Up 10...
THIS is what we must fight against!
Fall Down 9 times, Get Up 10...
4
Agree. My only quibble is that you may be insulting buzzards.
Buzzards clean up the rot, not cause it.
Buzzards clean up the rot, not cause it.
7
Mike, we need op ed columns to trace this and its effects....how a Dem president repealed FCC regulations , so led to big media monopolies, as well as repealing bank regulations and approving Nafta sending out our jobs. Not a gop president. The cumulative effect of these has been hugely destructive, yet done by a party that once worked for the average person.
Now, big money influence on elections is worse, after 2010 Citizens United. So what candidate can run for office to restore what we've lost? Who is going to pay for his/her TV campaign commercials?
Now, big money influence on elections is worse, after 2010 Citizens United. So what candidate can run for office to restore what we've lost? Who is going to pay for his/her TV campaign commercials?
3
So many of these items about Jon Stewart and The Daily Show emphasize the youth of the audience, which is indeed encouraging, but I'm on Medicare and I've been a Daily Show fan ever since I discovered it during the Dubya years. Now Letterman is leaving, Stewart is leaving, Stephen Colbert and Craig Ferguson are already gone--okay, I'll be watching Colbert when he replaces Dave, but he won't be the Colbert Report Colbert. I'm feeling like the occupants of Downton Abbey--things are changing too much, and not for the better!
375
I'm in my 70's and Jon Stewart is where I go for real news!
37
I loved your comment. I had started watching the Daily Show in '99 an episode or two after Jon took the anchor seat and was a Colbert fan before the Report. They tweaked my curiosity and caused me to look deeper into many topics and issues. Heck, my wife and I volunteered for the Rally (never saw the show, but the people were more than worth it). Hate to see them go and as Abbey fans, I know what you mean squire. Things and times change and I am thankful I got to experience The Daily Show and Colbert Report through the years. Someone will come up with something new and enjoyable, 'cause the kids are alright...
8
Yes, I and my cohort of fellow Stewart and Colbert watchers are in our 60s and 70s and even more. They're definitely not just a youth market!
19
As Stewart reminded us last night, he is not dead.
This column reads like an obituary.
I am looking forward to whatever the man does after the Daily Show ends later this year. I hope he makes a few more movies. "Rosewater" was very good.
This column reads like an obituary.
I am looking forward to whatever the man does after the Daily Show ends later this year. I hope he makes a few more movies. "Rosewater" was very good.
81
What will we do without Jon Stewart?
95
It's just not possible to put Stewart into 1500 words - he showed up in '99, just in time for the chads of 2000, was on post for the utter destruction of 8 years of GOP'er rule and then 8 years of Obama recovery.
A shame Jon won't be on nightly to point out the truthiness (Colbert term, but still apt) of GOP'ers prancing about in 2016 pretending they have all the economic answers (same ol' same ol'), while we're still recovering from the last time they had the reins, deliberately blowing up the years of Clinton surpluses, and driving the economy into the ditch.
We need Stewart to be nightly skewering GOP'er chutzpah and the Kochs.
A shame Jon won't be on nightly to point out the truthiness (Colbert term, but still apt) of GOP'ers prancing about in 2016 pretending they have all the economic answers (same ol' same ol'), while we're still recovering from the last time they had the reins, deliberately blowing up the years of Clinton surpluses, and driving the economy into the ditch.
We need Stewart to be nightly skewering GOP'er chutzpah and the Kochs.
430
Yep, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the biggest mistake that Bill Clinton ever made (yes, even including Monica!!). The resulting media consolidation has done more damage to this country than anything else -- besides the Citizens United shame that the five conservatives on SCOTUS brought us.
Jon Stewart = GENIUS. I am so sad now.
Jill Duncan
Denver, CO
Jon Stewart = GENIUS. I am so sad now.
Jill Duncan
Denver, CO
2
jill - the beginnings of where we are now started under St. Raygun when the FCC killed the Fairness Doctrine (equal time rule) in 1987:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2004/10/how_fa...
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2004/10/how_fa...
4
Without Stewart minus Colbert
Will anyone now be Left there?
I know they'll be trying
Or we will be sighing,
Like Mother Hubbard's cupboard, bare?
Will anyone now be Left there?
I know they'll be trying
Or we will be sighing,
Like Mother Hubbard's cupboard, bare?
133
Please ass Larry Einseberg to my list of the writers who give pleasure to NYTimes readers. Sail on, Larry.
5
thank you Larry
5
Maher, Oliver, Wilmore, and others we do not know but will. There will be more.
2