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Daily Show Production Team Nets Creative Freedom
gremlins writes "Jon Stewart, who recently celebrated his sixth anniversary with "The Daily Show" and was a rumored possible replacement to Dan Rathers, has signed a deal which allows his production team, Busboy Productions, to develop televison projects on their own. The deal also allows Busboy Productions to flirt with other networks when looking for a home for the projects. Comedy Central still gets the right of first refusal for any projects created."
But why is it on Slashdot?
(No, it's not even in the politics section.)
A comedian as a replacement for a serious news anchor?
Oh yeah... Dan Rather. Sorry. I must have mis-read that.
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
I don't think the article says that the TDS team gets any freedom... they're just getting funding to do spin-offs.
Jon Stewart has a lot of experience with fake news.
For more on this developing story, we turn to our senior Dan Rather analyst, Mr. Stephen Colbert.
Do you like German cars?
The Daily Show is often more insightful about the news than the mainstream media. You would probably be better served watching a half hour of the Daily Show than CNN/Fox News, etc.
Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
Columbian drug mule and panda killer?
John Stewart, while very funny, definatly wears his politics on his shoulder. Stewart speaks his mind and has openly supported one political party over the other. The CBS anchor job requires a neutral position, so that the newscast is not agenda driven like Foxnews or CNN. Dan Rather was actually good at hiding his political beliefs, I doubt Stewart could be as successful.
time is a perception of a being's consciousness
time is your 6th sense, the wierd ones are 7+
To imply that Jon Stewart is a journalist and a replacement for Dan Rather is a gross mischaracterization and sad commentary on the state of news media.
Jon Stewart is a comedian! The Daily Show is a comedy show! He is far from objective although he is hilarious.
And of course there's this brilliant tidbit where he blasts CNN's crossfire for being theater instead of actual news. The best part is when conservative crossfire host Tucker Carlson tries to ask Jon Stewart why he gave Kerry softball questions when he was on the Daily Show, Stewart responded (paraphrased from memory) "What I didn't realize, and maybe this explains alot, is that CNN takes its queues on integrity from Comedy Central. The show that leads into mine is puppets making crank phone calls."
Jon Stewart is brilliant, and since the Daily Show has the satirical factor embedded in it, it allows him more freedom than most other media outlets. And ironically in many cases he does a better job at explaining the news. For example, Daily Show viewers tend to be more informed than viewers of many other programs.
That out of the way, I would like to encourage people to watch The Daily Show even though it comes on at 11pm EST (it also reruns at 7pm EST the following evening). Even those of you who reject it outright as Left Wing BS.
Pause for a moment and try to listen to what the man has to say in as unbiased a way as possible...thinking of him as a standup comedian might help in this regard.
Over time, you'll realize, that he indeed makes a lot of sense. Atleast when compared to the lameass corporate-owned media which the populace considers as mainstream (and factual) news. In his own, sarcastic and comedic way, he puts forth "politically incorrect" news items, which the popular media outlets are unwilling to touch, or willing to slant to suit their ends.
Give it a try. Thank you.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
You need to calm down.
Politics is making you nuts.
short (obvious) answer: apparently nerds like the Daily Show.
My father had an old saying at the dinner table and it goes a little something like this, "You rationalise the small acts of unprincipled behaviour in terms of self-interest, and the next thing you're Henry Kissinger." He was such a drunk.
Last year an interesting story ran amok in the media about how _Daily Show_ watchers were beter informed than Fox News watchers. Geeks are better informed. The _Daily Show_, as a parody of news shows and the news, is for news geeks. We're such geeks that we can't even notice this basic fact without asking one another for clarification. Welcome to the club.
--
make install -not war
This guy's a little slow
Perish the thought.
I've heard enough of :
Yet, I still keep reading...
It's nice to have monkey-controlled robots and Jon Stewart to break the cycle?
The actual study can be found here. There was also a slashdot discussion here.
We all know that Jon Stewart is all about bringing back integrity to the news. Just look at The Daily Show, now that's a show based on good, sound, family values!
Is Dan Rathers?
SIERRA TANGO FOXTROT UNIFORM
he's anti-Bush. That goes over real well here.
One of the primary sources (possibly the primary source) of critical thinking and humor on TV today is the Daily Show.
Karma-wise, we're all on the same wavelength....
Wow, missed the point award goes to....
Jon's whole point was "we don't pretend to be news"
Obviously too subtle for you. At least he's funny.
Show me a Crossfire fan and I'll show you a psycho.
You people need to get laid while you still can.
Jon is our court jester. It's truly sad that you'll see more incisive commentary on TDS than on the major news networks. I've given up on all TV news except TDS- there's no point left to the major news programs anymore.
The most telling comment I ever saw on TDS was a short clip of a british journalist grilling Tony Blair about something. Stewart's comment was something like "Where can we get some guys like this?" Lord knows the american media has just given up.
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
For a second there, I thought you were really Jon Stewart like on the Daily Show. But, Jon Stewart is American and they spell rationalize with a z and behavior without the u.
I had already been a fan of Jon Stewart for some time before he took over the chair at The Daily Show; but I must admit, it took him and the writing staff a year or so to become consistently funny. The show was often painfully bad for the first season.
"Orthodoxy means not thinking--not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness." --Eric Blair
where is a reliable source of Daily Show torrents?
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
However, the average score for someone that is not a late night viewer is actually lower than random guessing, at 2.62. I'm gonna have to check the actual study to see why this happened. Maybe this is just a strange statistical thing or the sample size is too small, but im betting that it is another case of great misinformation from the Bush Administration. This wouldn't be the first time that such an effect was shown. I'd really like to see a break down of how people fared on each question by political party and other factors.
WWJD? JWRTFM.
I like TDS and I think John Stewart is hilarious, however there is something slightly disturbing about the fact that so many people get their news from a comedy show. I saw the tidbit he did on Crossfire and although I do agree that his show is comedy, for him to play it off as if he doesn't have an impact on how people think about politics was an artful dodge on his part.
I do agree that his show is brilliant even with his admitted left wing bias, at least he's honest.
I'd rather not see Stewart dishing out real news. He's perfect where he is. I doubt CBS would allow him to do the satire that comedy central does, and that's the strength of the Daily Show.
So it may be modern British English, but it is also archaic American English and using it does not necessarily mean you are British.
[Set Cain on fire and steal his lute.]
Could be Canadian for example. We still use the "u" that the Americans have cut out of a lot of words.
Comedy Central is owned by Viacom who is CBS, UPN, Spike, MTV, BET, VH1, CMT, Nickelodean, Showtime, Sundance, and Paramount Pictures that I am aware of (I'm sure there are more). Fortunately, at this point, Viacom recongnises that the freedom to be different and offensive is what gets the ratings on Comedy Central and they allow and encourage it.
But don't think for a minute that it's not big corporate owned media.
That does not, however, mean that their content is not excellent and well worth watching. Chapelle's Show is also top notch, and most of the rest of their shows are at least pretty good or better.
I mean that one comes as a huge "duh". On his interview on C-span Stewart joked about that how you get a green screen and one shot of Baghdad and wham, you have a reporter in the Middle East. I even recall an episode where two reporters that were supposed to be in different parts of the world started areuging and eventually went after each other, back and forth between the two boxes that were supposed to be the different camera angles, it was hilarious.
However, I'll give the guy some credit. The Daily Show does news so well (or perhaps it's just that normal news is done so poorly) that some peopel do take them more seriously than they should. They start to think the funny is just a hook, and it's a new program.
No, actually, it's a talkshow, just like Letterman or Leno. Starts with the monologue, goes to the feature, then the guest, then out. It's just a little shorter than the big ones. The news program is just their angle on it, their fun format. All talk shows do a topical show, it's what people want. The Daily Show jsut pretends to be a news show while they do it. That they actually do a good job covering current events is just evidence of the quality.
So I can give people a little credit for confusing the format with the aim, but it's still pretty stupid.
well seing as how archaic American English was British English...
My problem comes from spending to much time on sites with regular international posters. Some words like color/colour are easy for me to keep straight. But I constantly get confused by defence / defense. Thank goodness for spell checker.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Is this really just a excuse to make up silly names like "Dan Rathers"?
The Daily Show appeals to Slashdotters more than does professional wrestling because they prefer believable fiction.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
vis-a-vis Jon Stewart not being a serious journalist. The Daily Show has an International Edition that actually plays on CNN on weekends (if you live in asia). Which at last look was accepted as a serious news channel.
Political satire has always been just as, or indeed more effective in changing opinion on policies and governments than the regular news media.
Dismiss this man at your peril.
First thing I thought of was maybe they could develop the next Star Trek series--as a comedy. Seriously.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
Yes, I know, we're not supposed to gripe about moderation, but I think the parent poster is fairly close to right. TDS wants to have it both ways: to be treated seriously by its audience, and at the same time to be left alone as "ha-ha-only serious" satire. Can't have it both ways, kids.
Dog is my co-pilot.
Heh I second that. I wrote a couple of Star Trek parody plays for Highschool english, it was really fun.
:D
But... Sci fi comedy... That's like... Douglas Adams
I could go for that.
- shazow
Um, dude, you do know it's a comedy show right? As far as I understand it, it doesn't matter what kind of bias a comedy show has. He doesn't care about presenting an objective viewpoint. And he doesn't have to.
Think your argument and your problem through again, except this time replace all instances of "The Daily Show" with "The Man Show" and see how it comes out.
...sigh...
B
PS - as an aside, I'd say that The Daily Show was just about as biased towards the Left during the election as FOX News was towards the Right. Of course, FOX News *does* present itself as an objective, credible source of information. Which was a hefty portion of Stewart's point when he was on Crossfire on CNN.
"We must still have chaos within in order to be able to give birth to a dancing star." --Friedrich Nietzsche
I still think that Craig Kilborn was by far funnier than Jon Stewart. Then he moved to CBS for a late night show that totally sucked... And Jon Stewart was terrible the first couple years, though these days I do tend to flip to it every so often.
Guess what bitches?
What? I'm clearly missing your point...
I just thought it was a bit off topic...
but I myself have been modded -1 off-topic...
Oh the irony!
I 've been watching the show since Kilborn hosted ..so yea, I know it's labeled a "comedy show". I think it's more of a political commentary masquerading as a comedy show...
PS- I don't consider it an argument or a problem..merely an opinion...and BTW,did "The Man Show" ever have political guests, authors, or anyone else offering political opinion??
Yeah, those crazy Americans and their language compression algorithms. You know, the ones sponsored by the University of Alabama. :)
... "realize" vs. "realise" ... zzzzzzz. Zed me, baby. :)
I still tend to use the "z" instead of the "s", though
he's not nessessarily anti-bush, before the bush administraition he poked plenty of fun at the clinton administration. it's mostly whoever is in power gets made fun of (thought Gore and Kerry each had their fair share too). And have you watched the show recently at all? I would say the Bush jokes and the democrats are pussies jokes almsot even out (or are at least getting a lot closer). And besides, when you have an administration as absurd as the Bushie admin, how can you NOT make fun of it? Its just so easy...
Jon Stewart is *far* from partisan. If he singles out anyone for a heavier bashing it's extremists on *both* sides of the aisle, be they wildly conservative Repubs or mind-numbingly liberal Dems. This is not "partisan". this is making fun of the bullshit that exists on both sides of the party line.
Actually, my father was Welsh. But you didn't hear that from me.
Enterprise was aiming for the "Manos: The Hands of Fate" style of comedy: it's so bad, it's hilarious.
Well... it was, wasn't it?
Here's the google link of the "replacement to Dan Rather" link that we so beautifully slashdotted.
It just doesn't fit, and I almost always fast-forward through it (and when I don't fast forward through it, I always regret it, because it turns out to be incredibly boring, even if it's Eric Idle). It's never funny or entertaining. Lose it, and the show will improve. Interview authors and politicians instead.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
If you think John Stewart is "far left" you've never been out of Arkansas.
What is considered "centrist" in this country is by and large considered right wing in the rest of the world.
WRT CBS, it was a joke. A JOKE!
But you're right about one thing. As a long-term slashdotter, although I do pay taxes, I don't have to raise a family, pay a mortgage and pay off student loans. Because I'm not like all the suburbian assholes who turn Republican because it allows them to drop out of participating in society, and become a cleaner shaven version of the "welfare people" they so love to despise. I didn't try to live my entire life on the back-end of a credit card payment. And I won't be having a wife or kids until I (or we) can damn well pay for their needs. At that point, I will gladly take my fair share of all that school tax money I've been paying to subsidize their inability to effectively coordinate the use of a savings account and a pack of condoms.
And I'm "liberal" at least by your definition. And I will be well past age 40. And of that, I am proud.
Someone had to do it.
The biggest political partison on the air? Not Bill O'Reilly? Not Michael Savage? Not Ann Coulter? Jon Stewart is not a journalist, right?
95% of his guests were Kerry shills? Ed Gillespie? Fareed Zakaria? John Leguizamo? Samuel L. Jackson? Kevin Spacey? Jude Law? Desmond Tutu? Bill O'Reilly? Jerry Seinfeld?
red dwarf!
-- it's ridiculous how many people misspell ridiculous... (damn, damn, damn...)
Have you *ever* been outside the US?! Only in America can a liberal be on the left wing...
Daily Show Production Team Nets Creative Freedom
Now that they have it caught in a net, will they kill it, or are they planning on sticking in a cage somewhere?
Needless to say, they're slaves to their ideology, and won't just set it loose again.
"What's the frequency Kenneth?"
Jon admits to a bias and refuses to correct it - see for example his interview on Crossfire where he agreed he eats Kerry's shit (his phrasing).
[Video online at http://askmen.com/video/current/ - search for "Jon" when the video display opens]
But he wants to still correct all sorts of faults he detects in the mainstream media.
When his hypocracy was pointed out, he said, in effect... "But I'm just a joker".
So taking his advice about media bias is taking the advice of an arrogant joker. People would rather take advice from someone fair.
This is the problem Mike Moore had too. Sincerity and honesty triumph over arrogance, not matter how sophisticated it is.
Yeah. It was 'real news' that he, unfortunately, had zero, zippo, absolutely no solid evidence of, except for forged evidence.
Whiff away at those fumes, dude. But there's nothing there.
"What's the frequency Kenneth?"
When Bush won his second term.
No Shit look it up.
He was in NYC going to some media party where everyone was having a good time(including his staff writers) despite the results coming in.Like most Lefty Partisan Hacks Stewie had been pounding his pud in celebatory anticipation of the Kerry Victory the rigged MSM exit polls had predicted.Like Michael More Lil Jonny was already to take credit for bringing down "Bush Chimpler".
Well he walks in and sees FL for Bush and Ohio leaning and he walked out sulking and back home to cry.
If he is so Hip and Au Courant and "better" than real journalists why the fuck couldn't he have a good time and say Ce La Vie?
Cuse he is a whining little prettyboy who takes himself too seriously.
About half the people who love this country and care about what happens to it cried that day (the other half celebrated). A lot of people, regardless of their job felt very strongly about this election...
Why do you assume it has to do with his career? He knows he will have much more material this way...
"I'll have a Guinness, no wait, make that a Coors Light" -Grad student I work with, who shall remain anonymous...
He treats his guests nicely.
He regularly has Bill Safire on, and he is always treated nicely, you mentioned Bill O'Reilly...
Why do you think Bush would have been treated differently? Does Bush's Letterman apearance somehow convince you that a daily show appearance would have been similar?
"I'll have a Guinness, no wait, make that a Coors Light" -Grad student I work with, who shall remain anonymous...
wow. flamebait becuase I don't belive the show is what it once was - my evil ways have been exposed...
That would explain a great deal, such as why Stewart is so un-American.
Regards,
Tucker Carlson
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
"Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke."
- Will Rogers (I think, took it off a 'net source)
This quotation seems to hit the mark since all of our comedians actually end up making a lot more sense than our politicians and media.
Bring on the comedian overlords.
I am past 40, have already raised my son on my own, pay taxes and a mortgage, never had the time to incur student loans, and I love Jon Stewart. I also cried when Bush won and I'm not any more sanguine about the situation now. Maybe I'm not a typical slashdotter because I'm older than most, but I don't see that your post really says anything. I would classify myself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal. This means not letting the government go deep into debt because you want to give breaks to your rich buddies and be a war leader, and keeping the government out of my private life as long as I'm not hurting anyone else.
Wit is an un-nerdy trait? Most of the time when I'm with regular folk, I have to tone down my humor. Nerd humor may be distinctive, but you can't say they don't have wit. Or, eh, maybe you can... I can't.
We obviously had very different classroom experiences. I can't say I got a lot out of it most days, but glad you got your money's worth...
I appreciate the sentiment of your post but I don't really think you outlined anything resembling a viable campaign strategy.
:)
What, you think that was supposed to be a dissertation for a Ph.D in political science? I threw out a list of five off-the-cuff hypotheticals and they should be treated as such, not over-analyzed by someone badly in need of a bag of prunes.
Don't think that is a viable issue for a Democrat to run on. Only people that care are those in the miliary and their families.
Attack the enemies strengths, Karl Rove has been doing that with great success for years. Republicans have been claiming that they are the best when it comes to national security, and we've got to stop letting them get away with it. If Republicans are so hyped up on the military and "support our troops" rehtoric, then why did soldiers not have enough armor in Iraq and what are wounded veterans doing paying for their own meals in military hospitals? You don't have to change everyone's minds; just swing enough voters to make a difference or create enough doubts in the minds of Republican voters that they stay home on election day. I would certainaly think that the "fib factor" smear campaign on Gore in 2000 certainaly caused enough doubt in the minds of at least 1% of the voters, and in these days an extra 1% might be all you need.
Well I'll give you that spending it on infrastructure is better than wasting it in Iraq but your not going to win a lot of votes with it. First off its socialism
No it's not. Not going to win any votes? It would create thousands of jobs.
money is mostly going to disappear in to the pockets of corrupt construction companies, unionized labor, and mafia controlled concrete companies.
And your basis for this statement is...? This could be done like any standard project - seek bids, select the best offer, then sign a contract that provides for an incentive to finish ahead of schedule and under budget, and penalties if they are late and do a shoddy job.
When all the money was gone you would be skewered for all the fraud, waste and abuse just like the "Big Dig" was.
Yes, everyone likes to knock the Big Dig. What they don't like to do is mention how the project kept being expanded again and again.
Easy to say, nearly impossible to do. Terrorists and insurgents always have the advantage because they can pick the soft spots.
Impossible? Only if you're trying to make security foolproof, which no one is saying. You go after the easiest ways for terrorists to kill people and go to work on it; Playboy had a nice article on this very subject a year or two ago. One example: securing chlorine tanker trucks at water treatment plants. The gas is lethal at up to 20 miles away and clings to the ground, dispersing slowly. Terrorists could wait for a windy day in NYC, and blow up a truck on the windward side of Manhattan.
Part of the problem is it is nearly impossible to form a viable platform on the center-left. Anything you do to please the left is going to alienate the center and vice versa. The Republicans dont have that problem. As long as they are pro guns, pro life, pro religion and anti gay they have a huge and solid block of people who vote solely on those issues and care about nothing else. They then just have to whittle away some additional votes from the center and they can do that easily with scare tactics on things like national security.
Well said. Democrats have a reliable base of support with minorities, feminists and unions, but relying on them to battle the God-gun nut jihad just doens't cut the mustard. The Democratic party needs to get out of it's rut, find new issues to talk about and start chipping away at those Republican voting blocks, like asking where in all this "marriage protection" rehtoric are proposals to reduce divorce, and point out that Bush said he would sign a renewed assualt weapons ban.
"Seriously though... how many /.ers have to pay taxes, raise a family, pay a mortgage, and pay off student loans?"
My wife and I (whoa are in our 30s), and somehow we still think it's wrong to behave like so called "conservatives".
Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.
How much for just the planet?
Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.
It's just like the war in Iraq: we don't need U!
Regular Meta Moderators are not more likely to get mod points.
Whoever modded the parent as a Troll obviously doesn't watch The Daily Show. :-D It was a direct quote from Feb. 16th's episode. Sheesh.
Read Heinlein's 1953 Revolt in 2100, now more than ever.