“But Stewart is really trying to be a huge influence on society, seemingly for the sake of fame, and it’s kinda ridiculous.”
I couldn’t disagree more. I don’t get at all the Stewart is a self-promoter. I don’t see him really, ever talk about himself…on his show, or anyone else’s. He has a couple of books out that are also topical satire, not personal stories, or reflections. His criticisms, to me, never parade behind an ego, and come across as very genuine and populist. I think that’s why he stands as a huge contrast to Colbert that is completely playing the self-absorbed ego-maniac that directly mocks the talking head, assholes on the right.
THAT is where the influence comes from. Most thinking people see right through the cult of personality and fear-mongering built around ‘news’ networks. Sadly many people do not, the networks know this and cater to it. More important to have loyal zombies than an educated electorate. Jefferson warned against this turn of events.
Most thinking people recognize the damage, threat, and lowest qualities that ‘infotainment’ has on our discourse and government. Somehow we are ALWAYS in campaign-mode…always a crisis. That wears on people.
The Hannity, Beck, Limbaugh types are hugely popular. But they are not reliable sources of news. The left is also caught up in the rat race of running news media/journalism as a profitable business, so copy the “successful” boombastic model. So, they’re profit is society’s loss.
Stewart/Colbert’s ability to expose this resonates with many, many people. These are people that do not rely on Comedy Central for news. These are people that gather information from many sources and consider it. They just happen to appreciate that someone is calling BS on the hucksters and snake-oil salesmen.
