Courting the Jester

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you
--Stealers Wheel

Yesterday, my sister posted a Washington Post blog about a recent interview between Jon Stewart and some interviewer on Fox. It was interesting to me because the discussion centered on the topic of media bias, a topic that occaisionally colors these pages (e.g., here, here).

When asked whether he thought outlets like ABC, NYT et al were biased, Stewart responded that he thought so, but that the bias was not 'towards a liberal agenda.' Instead, he said the bias was toward sensationalism and laziness.

Moreover, when it was suggested that material on his show seemed to reflect political commentary, Stewart responded that the interviewer was 'insane,' claiming that he was a 'comedian first.' He did admit that his 'comedy is informed by an idealogical background,' but insinuating that this makes him a 'political player' is 'dead wrong.'

I found it amusing that even though JS acknowledges that his professional output is influenced by his political ideology, he does not view his product as politically biased. Were I asking the questions, I would have probed just how Stewart thought that this could reasonably be concluded as true. I would think that a straightforward content analysis of Stewart's show material would indicate a significant volume of content geared toward political topics, and that the lion's share of the show's political content favors the Left at the expense of the Right. His claims of not being a 'political player' also seem funny in light of his involvement in a major political rally in DC last fall.

Then again, JS is a self-professed comedian, so me finding these things amusing and funny must mean that he's doing his job.

One other noteworthy portion of this interview was Stewart's reference to Fox as a 'relentless, agenda driven, 24-hour news opinion propaganda delivery system' while implying that the other outlets in question, including his own show, were nothing of the sort.

Seemingly, he is suggesting to the interviewer that 'you and your organization are politically biased, but I myself and my affiliations are not.'

Which qualifies as the funniest line I've ever experienced from this jester.