[June 28, 2011] The Shuffle: A 'Daily' dose Tweet Jun 10, 2011 (St. Joseph News-Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" has won 14 Emmy Awards, four Television Critics Association Awards and two Peabody Awards. However, the late night comedy show's greatest accomplishment has come in the last few months: it replaced my nightly dose of "Conan." OK, so it wouldn't be a big deal if it was just me. But according to May's Nielsen ratings, 10 p.m. episodes of "The Daily Show" averaged 2.3 million viewers last month. That means Stewart's show is now being routinely watched by more people than ever. Furthermore, "The Daily Show's" ratings have gone up an astounding 22 percent in the 18 to 34 demographic from a year ago. In a non-election year, "The Daily Show" has caught fire. And it's not because of the phallic jokes revolving around the recent Weinergate scandal. It's because -- in the months prior -- Stewart hip-checked FOX News into the glass night after night after night. Now, many of you will undoubtedly call me on a liberal bias. But rest assured, Jon Stewart has not appealed to my liberal side. He hasn't appealed to that young, hip, comedic side that I like to think I have either. Rather, he has struck a chord with my sensible side. In a time where cable news is dominated by talking -- no, wait, SHOUTING -- heads, Stewart is chatting with 2.3 million of us about the hypocrisies those shouting heads are spewing. In fact, I remember the night he finally won me over. It was May 11. On a slow news day, many FOX News pundits had jumped on the "controversy" surrounding the White House's inclusion of rapper and actor Common in a poetry event. Sean Hannity, in particular, went after the Obamas for inviting Common because he referred to killing cops in one of his songs. Stewart called out Hannity for not listening to the song. The next verse actually called for a stop to those kinds of violence, he explained. Game! "The Daily Show" also ran clips of Common in GAP ads as well as his appearance with Elmo on "Sesame Street." As someone who is familiar with Common's music, trust me, the guy's harmless. Those clips just proved he might be cuddly, too. Set! To top it off, Stewart pointed to the hypocrisy of FOX News personalities going after Common, but not artists like Johnny Cash, who was honored by President George W. Bush. Anyone who has heard "Folsom Prison Blues" will tell you that Johnny Cash penned a song far more violent and mean-spirited than anything Common ever wrote. Stewart added that wildman Ted Nugent, who has made violent (and occasionally disgusting) remarks about President Obama and Hillary Clinton, is considered a "friend" by Hannity. Match! While it covers a variety of global political topics, "The Daily Show" is at the top of its game when Stewart calls out media figures and organizations for being cynical, disingenuous, misleading or all of the above. He played a big part in the cancellation of CNN's "Crossfire," widely viewed as a poor debate show starring what he called two "partisan hacks." And let's not forget that he figuratively de-pantsed Jim Cramer and Rick Santelli of CNBC in 2009 for doling out poor financial advice. Episodes of "The Daily Show" surrounding those topics remain some of the highest-rated in the show's 12-year run. Now, Stewart is deservedly scrutinizing the poor journalism and blatant Democrat smearing of FOX News segments on a near-nightly basis. As a result, more people than ever regularly tuned into "The Daily Show" in May, while FOX News had a really, really, really bad month. Total viewership was down 10 percent in May, and every one of its primetime programs lost viewers in the 25 to 54 demographic. "The O'Reilly Factor" lost 9 percent of its viewership, "The Sean Hannity Show" was down 6 percent, and "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren" dropped 12 percent. Additionally, "The Daily Show" beat out every FOX News program in the ratings except for "The O'Reilly Factor," which maintained 2.8 million viewers a night. I'd like to think that reasonable, open-minded people -- whether they're liberal, conservative or in-between -- will drift to other reasonable, open-minded people. Whether you like it or not, Jon Stewart has become the most reasonable, open-minded personality on cable TV. And this time, I'm not ashamed to follow. To see more of the St. Joseph News-Press or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.stjoenews-press.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]