Andrew Golis

Citing a new study, Richard Morin in the Washington Post raises the specter that Jon Stewart and the Daily Show may be “poisoning democracy” because they encourage young people to have a more negative view of elected officials and the news media, leading to cynicism, leading to apathy. But, in case Morin forgot, our elected officials and our news media (especially TV), very often deserve to be viewed negatively. That would make the Daily Show’s product realistic, not cynical, viewers. And by the way, if we require optimistic delusions to motivate our politics, we have a more serious problem than Comedy Central.

update: Marty Kaplan at HuffPost points out that the study cited by Morin actually came to no conclusion about whether or not the Daily Show has a net positive or negative effect. After noting the negative argument as presented in the column, he says:

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.”

Thank god WaPo wasn’t my only source, or I would have had a completely distorted view of what the report actually said.

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