The Daily Show host Jon Stewart appeared on Fox News Sunday to talk about media bias with host Chris Wallace. The Comedy Central man held his own during the interview boldly calling out Fox News for their constant stream of misinformation.

Early in the interview, Wallace flashed a previous quote of Stewart’s calling Fox News a “relentless agenda-driven 24 hour news opinion propaganda delivery system,” and asked Stewart, “Where do you come up with this stuff?”

Stewart responded, “Uh, it’s actually quite easy.”

Later, when Wallace argued that a clip about Sarah Palin from the Daily Show was political commentary, Stewart told Wallace, “You’re insane… Here’s the difference between you and I. I’m a comedian first. My comedy is informed by an ideological background, there’s no question about that. But the thing that you will never understand…is that Hollywood, yeah, they’re liberal, but that’s not their primary motivating force. I’m not an activist. I am a comedian.”

“Do I want my voice heard?” Stewart continued later. “Absolutely, that’s why I got into comedy. Am I an activist, in your mind? A partisan ideological activist?” Wallace responded, “Yeah.” “Okay, then I disagree with you,” Stewart said. “You can’t understand, because of the world that you live in, that there is not a designed ideological agenda on my part to affect partisan change because that’s the soup you swim in. And I appreciate that, I understand it. It reminds me of in ideological regimes, they can’t understand that there is free media other places because they receive marching orders.”

Later in the exchange, Stewart clearly got riled up and angry at Wallace about the misinformation that Fox News feeds its viewers.  “The embarrassment is that I’m given credibility in this world because of the disappointment that the public has in what the news media does,” he said.

“I don’t think our viewers are the least bit disappointed with us,” Wallace said. “I think our viewers think, finally, they’re getting somebody who tells the other side of the story.”

“Who are the most consistently misinformed media viewers?” Stewart shot back, his voice rising. “The most consistently misinformed? Fox, Fox viewers, consistently, every poll.”

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/

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About the author

Erin Chavez
Erin Whitney-Chavez has been writing professionally since 2009. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts from St. Bonaventure University and received a Master of Arts in mental-health counseling from Argosy University. Erin Whitney-Chavez is a licensed mental health counselor and has worked in the mental-health field for more than 10 years.

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2 Comments for Stewart Vs. Fox News

Claudia Sondergaard

One of the craziest debates I've come upon is that of media bias in the US – it's such a huge deal and the way I see it, the conservative side has been so brilliant and effective in their 'liberal media bias' campaign that even liberal media has been convinced that they're biased. It's completely insane – it's not about news anymore, it's about who's more right than the other – who's "telling the truth" more than the other. If this was a comic book, Jon Stewart would be the hero. He IS a comedian first and he KNOWS he has a bias – it's the ones who won't admit it you should be afraid of (and that goes for both sides). I can understand why Mr. Stewart got angry too, it's the snake that eats its own tail, Fox is like a race horse with its vision blocked on both sides. I get upset too, just reading about it. People who think there is such a thing as 'un-biased' or 'balanced' media need a slap in the face.

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Claudia Sondergaard

oh – and great article! I love to hate this debate

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