Jon Stewart became a central political figure in the 21st century as a comedian wielding outsized influence during the W. Bush era. Polls in 2007 and an unscientific 2009 Time poll showed Stewart as a favored and trusted news source for younger audiences. A comedian serving as a primary journalist reflects a failure of mainstream media and a weakened democratic public sphere. Stewart's practice of fully quoting politicians exposed contradictions and filled a journalistic vacuum, earning him mass appeal. Despite early achievements, his career has also been marked by disappointments and recent transgressions that reflect troubling cultural dynamics.
"That we let a comedian become this politically influential is a commentary on us, first and foremost. I can already feel a lot of liberals recoiling at attacking a sacred cow like this, but understand that going after Stewart as a symbol for American collapse doesn't make me feel great either. In many ways, I was raised on , and after graduating from college in 2009, I didn't miss a single night of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report."
"Stewart is in the news again for a recent transgression that is a depressing marker of our times, but I want to go further back and examine how this dynamic has followed him his entire career first. A 2007 scientific Pew poll found that Stewart was the favored journalist for people under the age of 30, and a famed 2009 Time unscientific online poll found him to be "America's most trusted newsman.""
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