The Newseum will host an exhibit honoring former Comedy Central host Jon Stewart, whose brand of malicious, hyper-partisan political commentary launched a thousand copycat “news” shows and dumbed down an entire generation in the process.
Because what better way for the press’ self-indulgent monument to itself to fade away than with a shrine to a partisan activist best known for play-acting as a news anchor?
“With his furiously funny brand of satire, Jon Stewart and his ‘Daily Show’ correspondents skewered politicians and the press, challenging the integrity of government, the news media and democracy along the way,” the Newseum explained this week in a press release.
It adds [emphasis mine]:
That last line, the one that boasts Stewart became a trusted, go-to source for news seekers, is not a thing for which an alleged journalism advocacy group should be proud. If anything, it is a source of shame.
Stewart’s tenure as a phony newsman was marked by a massive devaluing of American political discourse with cheap laughs and diseased spectacle, which is somewhat ironic considering he rather infamously accused the anchors of CNN’s “Crossfire” in 2004 of doing exactly the same. His program revolved around him diving headfirst into contentious national debates with acerbic, derisive, and sometimes flat-out dishonest commentary. As a host, he perfected the art of the selectively-edited political hit job. It became his medium in the same way that oils became Van Gogh’s. If ever a critic challenged Stewart for being disingenuous, the former Comedy Central host would respond with the maddeningly conniving defense that he is just a comedian, leveraging his position as a joker to insulate himself from legitimate criticisms that he often fell far below even the most basic standards expected of media personalities with similar platforms and audiences. For all of this, Stewart has been awarded praise and honors several times over from a press that is overeager to amplify his style of “news” commentary.
Stewart and his numerous acolytes, including Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Larry Wilmore, Michelle Wolf, and Samantha Bee, are partisan activists, often engaged in the service of a specific political party (I will let you guess which one). They do not explain or convey the news so much as they filter it in such a way as to benefit their preferred political interests.
Since his retirement from Comedy Central in 2015, Stewart’s minions have gone their separate ways, but they have not strayed far from the core “Daily Show” mission of antagonizing conservative and Republican targets with slurs and dishonestly edited interviews.
That the Newseum recognizes audiences have become increasingly reliant on these partisan clowns to stay “informed” on the issues, and it sees it as an occasion to celebrate rather than despair, reveals an astonishing lack of introspection by the museum’s administrators. You would think that a journalism advocacy group would see this trend as indicative of a much deeper, more serious credibility problem for the news industry. You would think that certain, uncomfortable conclusions would be drawn from the fact that all-time lows for trust in the press have coincided with the spectacular rise of conspicuously dishonest, faux newsmen.
But you would be wrong! The Newseum is treating Stewart like a holy martyr, whose very touch has the power to heal.
“The centerpiece of the exhibit will be Stewart’s desk from ‘The Daily Show,’ donated to the Newseum after Stewart’s final appearance on the late-night series after 16 years hosting the popular program,” the group announced Tuesday.
They add, “Among the artifacts the exhibit will display are: Gitmo, a puppet Stewart dubbed ‘senior imprisoned correspondent’ who voiced the controversies that arose surrounding accused terrorists held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; a script from Stewart’s farewell show; a script from Stephen Colbert’s late-night series ‘The Colbert Report;’ a framed tweet from ‘The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents: The Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library;’ and the suit Noah wore on his first show as host in 2015.”
What is next? Relics of Saint Hannity? Oh no, of course, too partisan in the other direction. Well, perhaps we will be spared whatever was going to be next.
