The Real "Daily Show ' Effect"by Marty Kaplan
Huffington Post
"Is this good news, or bad news?
Two East Carolina University assistant professors have compared student reaction to coverage of the 2004 presidential race by CBS News and by The Daily Show. They've concluded that Stewart show watchers are more cynical about candidates, campaigns, the electoral system and the news media than are network news viewers.
If you read the Washington Post account of this study, which was originally published in the journal American Politics Research, you might think this was bad news: "This is not funny: Jon Stewart and his hit Comedy Central cable show may be poisoning democracy.... Young people who watch Stewart's faux news program... develop cynical views about politics and politicians that could lead them to just say no to voting," writes Post columnist Richard Morin.
But if you actually read the academic paper, or the interview with the authors in the not-so-much-MSM Daily Reflector, you'll see another angle. It turns out that Stewart fans also trust their own knowledge of politics more than do network watchers. Young Daily Show viewers blame the elites who run the political-media system for the mess we're in, not themselves. They think they really get what politics is actually all about. And, says the study, here's an idea worth entertaining: "citizens who understand politics are more likely to participate than those who do not."
In other words, the cynicism and discontent that the Daily Show breeds could "spawn greater involvement," say the authors; Stewart watchers could actually "become more active voters."
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marty-kaplan/the-real-daily-show-ef_b_23653.html