Soft news refers to news satire programs like The Daily Show that use humor and parody to comment on current events and politics. While scholars initially dismissed soft news as not providing substantive information, studies have shown that many young people rely on soft news programs as their primary news source. The Daily Show in particular has gained influence and credibility with viewers, especially younger audiences, through its humorous critique and analysis of mainstream news coverage and politicians' statements. Research indicates that humor can make political topics more engaging and that programs like The Daily Show may help reach politically disengaged audiences.

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Christopher Cole
Soft News
COM 380
Scott Campbell
August 20 201

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News satire, also called fake news or mock news, is a type of parody presented in
a format typical of mainstream journalism, and called a satire because of its content.
While news satire gets a bad wrap, people, especially young adults, are tuning their TVs
to shows like “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” to get their news fix for the day despite
the format of the program.
Alternative news sources for the politically uninvolved have been around for at
least two decades. Scholars, however, have mostly ignored the soft news media as they
claim that they do not convey substantive information. As Stewart has said in his book
America it was the invention of the television that changed everything – the “hypnotic
and absorbing, “shut the hell up, kids, can’t you see I’m watching Sullivan” type of
television. (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, 2004)
However, this is no longer the case. In order to understand why one must
understand the term.
Fake or soft news isn’t new. In fact it is rather old, having started with the growth
of the cable industry in 1980. Although scholars have no set definition for the term soft
news, proponents of soft news point out that it is a “matter of degree rather than kind” of
news. (Baum, 2002) Soft news used to be coverage that tended to be more entertainment
oriented such as small snippets of real news that one might see on “Saturday Night Live.”
(Baum, 2002) But now with the ever-growing popularity of Facebook, Twitter, and Web
sites like the Drudge Report, soft news has taken a hard turn.

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Although fake or soft news has been around since MTV’s “choose or loose”
campaigns, the move started in earnest in 2000 with Comedy Central’s The Daily Show
with Jon Stewart and its ”Indecision 2000” campaign. (Kakutani, 2008) The show with
its Cracker-Jack team of so-called journalists (including comedian/actor Steve Carell)
(Kakutani, 2008) promised to “bring you all the news stories – first … before it’s even
true.” In its early years the show scrambled to get high-ranking government officials to
be on the program, and host Jon Stewart was still coming out of his proverbial shell. But
in the years since then Stewart commanded over 56% of the viewing audience between
the ages of 18-26. (Kakutani, 2008) Moreover, 34% of the viewers report The Daily
Show as their only source of news. (Morris, 2008)
According to Julia R. Fox et al., people who view shows such as The Daily Show
will eventually, with enough exposure, “get” the humor behind the show without getting
facts from more sources. But, on the other hand, there can be news-content-worthy
events on such a show. An example of this would be when John Edwards announced his
candidacy for president on The Daily Show. (Fox, Koloen, & Sahin, 2009)
While the show may appear to be fake news, the truth is that journalists and
viewers take it as seriously as other news shows.
“To say his [show] is just a comedy show is a cop-out in a way. He’s gotten
power,” said Howard Kurtz, a news analyst. (Morris, 2008) The show’s mainstay of
using clips from other news agencies depicting a political figure contradicting him or her
has also caught on in the mainstream media. (Kakutani, 2008)

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A New York Times story describes a typical day at The Daily Show:
“The day begins with a morning meeting where material harvested from
15 TiVos and even more newspapers, magazines and Web sites are
reviewed. Writers work throughout the morning on deadline pieces
spawned by breaking news, as well as longer-term projects, trying to find
“stories that make us angry in a whole new way.” By the afternoon a
script is created and rehearsed in time for the 6 o’clock taping in front of a
live audience.” (Kakutani, 2008)
Research has shown that humor in general has a persuasive power. You can add Stewart
to a topic that most people find boring, and you have a powerful juggernaut for young
adults. According to Jonathan S. Morris this is especially true when the Stewart attacks
himself:
“It has been shown that when an information source frequently defames its
own credibility in a humorous style, it ironically gains credibility among
viewers, this [sic] increasing its persuasive power. In other words, when
Jon Stewart defames his own legitimacy he actually gains credibility as a
trustworthy political observer with no stake in the process.” (Kakutani,
2008)
As one can see, despite what the critics say soft news can withstand the stigma of
its name. (Baum, 2002) A final example of this would be when The Daily Show took on
CNBC. An article from the European-based newspaper The Guardian tells of Stewart
taking a CNBC correspondent to task over the failing economy and in particular the way

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the housing market had decreased rapidly. The Guardian reported that the Columbia
Journalism Review, a highly respected periodical for journalists had said:
“The Daily Show Eviscerates Santelli (the correspondent) and CNBC.” (The Guardian,
2010)
In conclusion, we see that soft news should be taken seriously. That despite its
infotainment appearance it really is no joke and can take journalism where many feel
traditional media in the US can no longer reach – into the realm of the politically
uninformed. (Fox, Koloen, & Sahin, 2009)

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Works
Cited
Baum, M. A. (2002 March). Sex, Lies, and War: How Soft News Brings Foreign Policy
to the Inattentive Public. American Political Science Review (96), pp. 91-109.
Fox, J. R., Koloen, G., & Sahin, V. (2009). No Joke. In A. Alexander, & J. Hanson
(Eds.), Taking Sides Clashing Views in Mass Media and Society (10th Edition ed., pp.
185-197). New York, New York, USA: McGraw Hill.
Kakutani, M. (2008 17-August). Is Jon Stwart the Most Trusted Man in America?
Retrieved 2010 20-August from LexisNexis.
Morris, J. S. (2008 6-May). The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Audience Attitude
Change During the 2004 Party Convention. Political Behavior (31), pp. 79-102.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. (2004). America. New York, New York, USA: Warner
Books.
The Guardian. (2010, August). Organgrinder Blog. Retrieved August 20, 2010, from The
Guardian: www.guardian.co.uk