Tuesday, March 31, 2009

News For Dummies

One third of young Americans, according to a survey done by Rasmussen, get their news from such fake news sources as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report (PMSNBC should be included in there too, in my opinion).

This according to Rasmussen:

Nearly one-third of Americans under the age of 40 say satirical news-oriented television programs like The Colbert Report and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart are taking the place of traditional news outlets.

Thirty-two percent (32%) of adults ages 30-39 believe this to be true, while 42% disagree, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Thirty percent (30%) of those ages 18-29 say programs like the two Comedy Central shows that feature news reports with a comic twist are replacing traditional news outlets, but 35% disagree and another 35% are not sure.


Although with today's politicians, it's hard to say which is news and which is satire. But it still makes for dumb people who watch it and take it seriously. It'd be like if I started reading Scrappleface (which is hilarious) or The Onion and posting it as actual news. Well, not me but another big blog such as Instapundit or Power Line.

I've seen both shows a few times, and while they both skew to the left, at least Steven Colbert is halfway funny. Jon Stewart (or as Mark Levin calls him, Jon Leibowitz, which is his actual Jewish surname) is just a hack. But if one third of young Americans actually get their news from the likes of Comedy Central, it's no wonder they voted in a constant joke for President.

Hat tip to I Hate The Media, a great new blog.

2 comments:

MAS1916 said...

The teachers unions have a hand in all this. In their drive to produce a generation of economically and politically ignorant voters, teachers have had to rely on more social media - including Daily and Colbert - for information.

Rather than teach facts, teachers teach 'feelings.' When real news is 'boring' they revert to something that is entertaining regardless of whether it is factual or not.

But.. these voters will one day have to get a job. And that experience will be the best teacher of all.

MRBB said...

I was wondering if people would be interested in a daily e-mail or fax with the latest news, sports and politics simplified in a short concise Cliff notes type of summary. Don't have time to read an entire newspaper, not sure of what's going on in a particular hot news story, get it e-mailed to you every day. Look like you are on top of every major subject and never be left out of a conversation again. Let me know your thoughts on this.