Jon Stewart: Loud and Clear

There had been an ongoing disagreement in Washington on what to do about the taxes that would go up for everyone in January.  Democrats wanted to extend the Bush tax cuts, but only for families making up to $250,000 per year.  Republicans wanted to extend them for the wealthy as well.  President Obama and the Democratic Party also wanted to extend unemployment benefits.  So that both parties would get their way, a “deal” had to be made.  The result was extended unemployment benefits and extended Bush tax cuts for all.

I watched an episode from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart that talked about the compromise between Democrats and Republicans.   Despite not being considered a “serious” news provider, I found the show informative and analytic.  It uses humor to simplify politics and ideas that sometimes are hard to comprehend for the public.   For example, in this specific episode the show uses a comic metaphor to illustrate the ineffectiveness of the Bush tax cuts that have been in place for many years.  It highlights the idea that the wealth that is supposed to be generated by this tax cuts is not reaching the majority of the people.   Other news channels use statistics and specific details to convey the same ideas, but buried among so many details, the main point sometimes gets lost.  On the other hand, while Stewart might ignore many details, he makes sure the main point is loud and clear.

Another thing that I noticed from the show is that it focuses more on how the issues, and the things that are getting done about them, affect the people.  They focus less on the political turmoil in Washington, on how Democrats or Republicans could be feeling about certain things.  On the other hand, some news channels seem to pay more attention to the political dynamics than the effect some of the issues are having on people.  They seem more concerned with pointing fingers or highlighting who’s now on the spot light, Democrats or Republicans.  For example on this segment from the O’Reilly Factor the attention is centered around the political dynamics, instead of focusing on how the new deal between the Democrats and the Republicans is expected to affect Americans.