I think it’s the 24 hour news cycle. It cannot help but encourage a) mindless drivel filler or b) reactionary crazy-talk.

Whereas Stewart has the whole day to actually sit down and think about the news.

‘Cause satire isn’t good unless one actually has a well rounded grasp of the issue to be laughed at.

Because it’s what people are buying. They are companies first and foremost. They sell what people will buy.

Steward is just as much a tool of liberal MTV that owns Comedy Central channel.

I think aphilotus pretty much hit the nail on the head with a 15 pound sledgehammer.

@seVen Actually, the company that owns those two channels is Viacom. I don’t know how liberal they are.

so you’ve a hunch that stewart is urged to express certain views that don’t reflect his thinking? that he’ll, for example, insist on a moot point simply because his parent company knows such a view will help ratings?

People want to see these guys get on TV and act a fool. It’s part of the circus.

@seVen More info on Viacom… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Viacom

They’re a huge conglomerate. Owning dozens of different entities, including: all the MTV’s and VH1’s, all of the Nickelodeon channels, BET’s channels, LOGO, The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (yes, the dude from Forest Gump), Paramount Studios, and Harmonix video game company.

So are they using all of those outlets to push they’re “liberal” agenda?

I’m wondering if you have forgot where the off button is? I seldom watch those other than to listen to the headline-type news reports.

I think @aphilotus is probably on the right track. It makes my blood boil to watch any of the bombastic commentators, on either side of the political divide. I want news, not opinion. I can figure out on my own what to think about the news, thankyouverymuch.

Just after the first Iraq war was when CNN came into power.
That was the point where cable network news made the jump from journalism to entertainment.
Shame on them all.

I consider cable network news to be about as believable as professional wrestling.

NPR FTW!

@augustlan yes, they’re bombastic. but do you feel they’re genuinely bombastic? are they honestly as stupid as they appear on television or do they say “wow! i wonder if anyone is stupid enough to believe what i just said…” once the cameras are off?

@astrojams1 You know, I’m honestly not sure. I’ll tell you though, that I’d have even less respect for these asshats if they are just putting on a show. I mean that shit is dividing the country and is directly responsible for the recent, rapid decline of civility in political discourse. To think people would do that just to line their own pockets is absolutely repulsive to me. I know, I am naive.

A Congressman screams at President Obama: “You lie!” he shouted. It was rude, out of place, and all that. And every network talked about this. But not a single network, far as I know, has addressed whether the President was lying or not. They won’t tell us. I don’t know if he was or not, but I’d like to know. I think shouting “You lie!” when the president is lying isn’t really so awful. But shouting “You lie!” as a homebase political ploy when the President was telling the truth… well that’s an atrocity. And our news media in America never covered that angle… which is the central angle of the entire story.

In England, the press would analyze the issue and flat out tell you if he was lying or not. In America, they just report what happened on the surface, but keep you in the dark on the back stories.

And that is one tiny example, but its also the epitome of America’s entire news industry.

And where was the news media when Operation Northwoods was declassified? An operation unanimously agreed to by a previous Joint Chiefs of Staff to kill American citizens and blame Cuba? What?!? And then where’s ABC, NBC, CBS, Reuters, AP, Fox? They’re talkin about things like Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Britany Spears, etc.

Not a single mention of Northwoods. Or any other massive news story that really means anything. Not a single mention of Bush’s phony Niger yellowcake documents, either, except in one or two exceptional rare commentaries.

The issue of whether the President was lying or not was prominently featured on every broadcast I watched and on the front page of Yahoo News. The answer was an overwhelming NO. The proposal clearly states that illegals will not be covered.

@Kraigmo – Nail on the Head! Similarly, when a reporter threw a shoe at Bush, I had to pass by tons of commentary on the shoe, the size of the shoe, what punishment the guy should get (if any), YouTube videos of the shoe being thrown, etc. – but no one talked about WHY he threw the shoe at Bush, and what Bush did/represented to earn a shoe-throwing.

Because – people purchase drama. They do not purchase news.

Expressing opinions you don’t like are a fundamental right in a democracy.

@astrojams1 , you probably have something like this lying around. There will be two buttons to change the channel up and down, or you can enter a channel directly on the numeric keypad. I would highly recommend Turner Classic Movies or Nickelodeon (when Spongebob Squarepants is on) as an alternative to the cable news programs. Check your local listings for channel numbers.