A funny thing happened on

A funny thing happened on American Television Media's way to assuming who the people should most trust among political pundits.

After 9/11, When the line began to blur between entertainment and news sources, Jon Stewart's biting, hilarious satire––exposing the logical fallacies and overall ridiculousness of the messages those on both sides of the political spectrum construct––became so popular and powerful that many of the traditional pundits said he was 'hiding' behind his comedy. But in a recent New York Times interview (6-15-2020), Jon Stewart responded by saying that they were trying to get him to use their same language to define himself, as if telling Johnathan Swift in the 1700s, "So, what you're saying is we should eat Irish babies..."

One could write a convincing essay about the ways in which emotions such as laughter and the appreciation one feels toward those who create excellent political satire generate trust as an argument for why Jon Stewart's The Daily Show became one of the most trusted news sources in America. But the biggest reason we trust Jon Stewart, as Renee Hobbs states in this preview, is because he was truly himself. Through it all, he was himself; we saw his humanity, and how much he cares about this country.

Jon Stewart has influenced me tremendously. I have studied comedy as well as media literacy, and watching his insightful deconstruction and analysis of the latest lies and obfuscations the political elites were trying to spin was like being a kid in a candy store. It opened my eyes to how entertaining political discourse can be, and the extent to which people respond to and trust it when the news anchor himself is trustworthy. We are only beginning to explore the ways in which political discourse can use entertainment to engage We The People in Civics Education, and I hope Jon's legacy and work (proof that comedy is serious business) will continue to influence all of academia in this regard.