# What exactly is The Daily Show effect? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 17, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-daily-show-effect/437960 "2008-02-17T05:01:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-daily-show-effect/437960/21 "2008-02-18T17:55:08Z")
When the DS and CR came back before the end of the writer’s strike, I was cynically surprised by a lack of outrage from the righty conspiracy theorists. My reasoning went like this: Young people watch the Daily Show(And I agree on including the two together). Young people vote democratic. Without the Daily Show, young people are less interested in politics. So, bringing the show back on the air before the end of the strike is obviously an attempt by the lefty, entertainment industry, east-cost liberals to help the dems win. I know it’s a stretch, but it does sound like something Ann Coulter would say. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-daily-show-effect/437960/22 "2008-02-18T17:59:29Z")
I show clips from The Daily Show in my rhetoric class. Their bits are often lessons themselves in media criticism illustrating how talking points work, the laziness, cowarace and herd mentality of reporters, the use of ‘spin’ to manipulate the interpretation of news stories, the sometimes idiotic priorities of major news networks, the proliferation of DNRs and the absurd things that public figures say that would perhaps have been forgotten before YouTube plugged up the Memory Hole. Years ago, The Daily Show would get laughs and put perspective on the news by showing clips of politicians saying one thing one time and something contradictory later. Or, by showing clips of different people mouthing the exact same talking points on different shows, word for word. Now I’ve noticed that you’re starting to get that kind of thing on straight news programs. It’s as though The Daily Show is teaching the news how to be the news. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-daily-show-effect/437960/23 "2008-02-18T19:00:09Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny Angel] I show clips from The Daily Show in my rhetoric class. Their bits are often lessons themselves in media criticism illustrating how talking points work, the laziness, cowarace and herd mentality of reporters, the use of ‘spin’ to manipulate the interpretation of news stories, the sometimes idiotic priorities of major news networks, the proliferation of DNRs and the absurd things that public figures say that would perhaps have been forgotten before YouTube plugged up the Memory Hole. Years ago, The Daily Show would get laughs and put perspective on the news by showing clips of politicians saying one thing one time and something contradictory later. Or, by showing clips of different people mouthing the exact same talking points on different shows, word for word. Now I’ve noticed that you’re starting to get that kind of thing on straight news programs. It’s as though The Daily Show is teaching the news how to be the news. [/QUOTE] This post, **Marley23** ’s and **Sampiro** ’s are excellent for this subject. I do know people that get most of their political news from either TDS or the Internet. In fact, I have become one of those people. I used to watch a lot of network news and CNN, I don’t anymore. Jim [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-daily-show-effect/437960.md?page=1)