Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert: Best News Source Around?

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to say that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are, in my opinion, the most unbiased news around. Not that they're not biased, but I feel like they are great when it comes to calling out everyone when they lie/distort/try to tell people how to think. If they weren't on TV I'd have absolutely no hope for television.

I wanted to make this post to try and see what everyone thinks about them, and any other political TV or radio (or anything) people you'd like to talk about. Also, I'd love it if some people would upload videos. Really anything you'd like to say about TV would be interesting to me.

One example of Stephen Colbert being awesome that I've seen lately is his SuperPac. What do you guys think of it? He's using Karl Rove's (and many others') tactic to get around telling anyone where he gets money from or where he puts it, and he's released a few hilarious commercials as well. He (maybe, hinted at) got Mark Cuban to donate to him and in return he made some commercials about the NBA lockout to get around Cuban's inability to talk about the situation. And now he's (I think) supporting OWS, as of last night. I think that this honestly could be a real step toward democracy, to have someone that famous able to raise money from average people for causes that they otherwise have no way to support.

Another person I like, although I haven't seen a whole lot by him, is Bill Maher. I don't agree with everything he says but he's pretty smart and is on HBO so he can say basically whatever. The episode with Mos Def is probably a must see for any ATS viewers... the things Mos Def (excuse me Yassid) says would never, ever be allowed on mainstream TV.
Also, democracynow.org. But they're not as entertaining. They do say lots of things that no one else will, though.

Please, any contribution, whether its a video, an example, or your thoughts on any of these people, or any that you think of, would be appreciated.

Sort of says something when a comedy show gives us our news... and our news shows give us something resembling comedy.

The Daily Show and the Colbert Report are pretty much the only show related to news I watch anymore. I don't trust them to be fully accurate because their job is to embellish and make fun, but even he has said that the world is so crazy that they don't have to make things up anymore.

Plus, bringing up the book authors who often have very interesting intellectual points to make is very cool. The Daily Show often brings up very real and controversial issues in these segments.

I remember when Jon did an interview for a Fox show and he basically said the same thing, that its crazy that more people are being informed via his comedy show than MSM. He then said its a crazy world we live in when people look to a comedian for news.

Originally posted by Resinveins
Sort of says something when a comedy show gives us our news... and our news shows give us something resembling comedy.

Very true though, these days. Those two guys give it straight and usually they are 100% correct. Same can be said for others at the moment too.. Bill Maher? Howard Stern? Yeah I don't always agree with either but meh.. And going back even further.. Bill Hicks? George Carlin? Genuine comedy has to contain an element of truth.

I agree with the OP wholeheartedly.

Living in Australia, these two shows are the only way to get US political news commentary that shows what real Americans feel about what's going on there.

We get MSNBC and Fox and it is very entertaining to watch these these two blatant propaganda machines at work. As has been said they are a great source of komedy.

I thought Glen Beck was the funniest - using puppets to get his message across - it says a lot about how intelligent he believes his audience is!!!

No.

The Washington post is the best.

reply to post by lldd182


Colbert's way of informing people about political action committees is pretty awesome. Mostly because he shows the process and is a part of one and does it in a way that makes you laugh. I mostly like his show because he takes on the persona of a right wing narcissist just to make fun of those people, while taking sarcastic jabs at leftest that the right take serious lol.

I would hardly call them the best news source on television, because it's not really news, but commenting on the news. These satire shows don't report anything, they comment on it, like other news commentary shows like Hannity and Rachel Maddow, which far too often gets mistaken for news, when really, they are interpreting it.

I think Stewart is a great interviewer, and is remarkable when it comes to wit. His show is good at showing hypocrisy from fox news in all forms. However, he hardly does this with other news organizations. It doesn't really matter to me because it's funny. A good source to show how stupid you look when you take the news seriously sometimes.

I don't watch maher, I think he's like the more political savvy version of Howard Stern. Mostly obnoxious, too crass, even though I've seen clips of decent guests on the show expressing ideas without filters.

Who are they?

Originally posted by lldd182
Please, any contribution, whether its a video, an example, or your thoughts on any of these people, or any that you think of, would be appreciated.

Wanted to add this guy, Phil Defranco. I find his show somewhat informative and entertaining as he covers a wide range of topics from tech to politics.

reply to post by Ramcheck


I agree completely about bill hicks and george carlin. Stewart started as a standup comedian, and I would be surprised if those two were not big influences on him.

Colbert had me rolling the other night

On the oakland brutality.
he found the picture the WSJ posted that showed the cop petting an abandoned kitten lol after the protest.

and to sum up the whole riots he said
"You have the right to peacefully assemble, BUT, the police have the right to disassemble you into pieces."

To be able to bring the events into that simple perspective and make a joke takes talent.
but its true, given the past events. and thats sad but. he makes me laugh.

reply to post by lldd182


Go find out who is related to John Stewart and realize him and Colbert are in bed together.
That pretty much did it for me.
And about TV, if you saw it, someone had a reason for wanting you to see it.
They are entertaining though.

reply to post by g146541


So what does that mean? Of course they're friends, Colbert was on his show before getting his own show. And I'm not sure if this is what you meant, but if you think that Colbert and Stewart have differing points of view, I've got some news that just might blow your mind... Colbert's show is a satire!

Yes they're the best source of news we're going to get from the mainstream media. But it's easy to see that they control and shape popular opinion, Colbert more than Stewart. and they may even be controlled by one of the more benevolent shadow organizations affiliated with Viacom. Some people watch them religiously and don't continue to think critically, accepting everything they say. Colbert displays some pretty advanced masonic hand signs(the phoenix or the eagle), and if you look in depth into the hand signs you'll find they're very real. However, not all Masons and illuminati are bad. Only the higher ranking members who become members of multiple occult orders. Most presidents who were masons were usually in at least two or three orders, some up to eleven. The ones we don't hear about as much. People are foolish to think that there's only one group or secret society behind everything we see on the surface. There are literally thousands of different occult orders and intelligence agencies; all with different agendas and goals for humanity. The factions are divided now more than ever and the lower levels of the pyramid are being dissociated from higher ups in the web of interlocking shadow organizations for unknown reasons. High level Satanists are starting to go into a frenzy now too because they're quickly realizing they're actually at the bottom of the this pyramid representing the hidden control structure. There's a real chance some of these groups are siding with the people against the higher ups because they want to see a change in power on the surface. Maybe even helping out with OWS... the mainstream controlled media wouldn't be of the same mind as these groups. And we're still seeing a lot of spin going on in all the "real" news outside Stewart, Colbert and Bill Mahar. So I think they are definitely a force for good. And at this time even the groups that are constantly demonized may be able to be flipped to the side of the people. I know all this because I believe if you can't beat your enemy you must join them and convert them to your ideology from the inside. You have to study the enemy's beliefs and way of thinking to understand all the hidden occult symbols around us. You have to know your enemies' tactics, and so far I'm learning that these lower level guys aren't in control of s**t. They're almost running scared right now because of all that's happening. You won't get much of their full esoteric beliefs unless you ascend past the 33rd degree; even those that do are still pawns in the grand scheme of things and move up to even more hidden levels. Becoming members of factions with the same ideology while still retaining their status as a mason.

What people don't realize is there has always been hidden wars waged between the intelligence agencies and the factions behind the scenes. All vying for money/power. With no one group really holding all the power. Some things we see on the surface a direct result and extension of this. Freemasons and illuminati are realizing they've been outed through the internet and the controlled authors to become the backup fall guys after the bankers and the government in any real revolution. While the real masters stay behind the scenes. There's nothing wrong if either are masons or controlled by the factions who want to see those currently in charge lose their power over society, because people need to realize that the masons are quickly becoming part of the 99% for all intents and purposes. Still, they want to control the flow of information right now. Notice how neither really touches 911 truth in any real manner, even though the evidence is overwhelming for at least the controlled demolition part. In my honest opinion multiple factions wanted it to happen while some were actively trying to stop it. If they are affiliated with a group it's most definitely one of the more humanistic ones.

They really haven't been up to anything all that bad all this time. Higher level illuminati is a slightly different story. But still the real danger is the people who move up the pyramid to the tippy top and become members of multiple organizations

For God's sake people...

If you want to be informed, you have to read.

Have you seen the old Daily Show with Craig Kilborn? It's like seeing Tron's MCP back when it was just a chess program.

It was just a news-comedy program. But as the concept took off sometime around the beginning of the John Stewart era (probably a bit before), somewhere up in the aether of television networks, somebody saw its potential. They saw exactly what people in this thread are testifying too. That people who wouldn't even bother to watch any other TV news media were tuning into the Daily Show and it was becoming their PRIMARY source of news.

It's so strange to have turned out this way. The Daily Show is supposedly making fun of the way news channels like Fox and CNN manipulate the news with presentation, context, selective editing, and other editorial tricks. And yet objectively, none of them are better at these sorts of manipulations now than the Daily Show.

Read if you want to be informed. If are giving up on that sort of effort, it's your call, and I couldn't judge you for it.

Just please don't watch an extremely manipulative entertainment program and think for one second that it makes you informed.

Yes there is so much information available today that it can be overwhelming. Pick an issue of concern to you and become very informed about it. I can't say how but I can promise you that it will make a difference somewhere, somehow, to somebody.

“May I propose a Herzog dictum? Those who read own the world, and those who watch television lose it.”
-Werner Herzog

reply to post by lldd182


Sorry bout the late response, but I got goodies in teh oven.
Lemme point you in the right direction,
Johnny's rant
So we know that Johnny's Mom and many others lost alot playing stocks, and got bad advice.
Now for Johnny's relations....
If this guy was your son or brother, do you think you would get your advice from some guy on tv?
Or would you ask your brother / son?
He took a situation that he most likely would be bad ahead of time and used it for his ratings.
Television is meant for you to see, there is a reason why.
Is he entertaining, sure.
But I would hardly consider him a valid news source, heck he didn't carry the OWS story until 3 or 4 weeks after it happened.
Considering many things I'm sure he knew.
So, I would not call either of them the "best" news around.
But definately the most entertaining spin.

reply to post by g146541


I believe the OP was trying to get across the fact that you can't trust the MSM that Stewart and Colbert parody, to give an unbiased depiction of the news.

For someone in another country it is not easy to get news from the US that is not subject to MSM editing, biases and prejudices. So how do we get that info?

The print media can't be trusted anymore than TV media.

Like I said previously, from many miles away on a different continent it's interesting for a change to see that some Americans have a different opinion than what the news presenters and journalists spout as the truth.

reply to post by 11andrew34


Ok I agree with you here on almost everything. But, and maybe I didn't say this very well in my original post, but I do think they definitely don't cover the whole truth. But my theory is that they know that if they did, they would be kicked off the air in a day (and you know that's true). They do an excellent job at what they stick to, which is calling out the corruption and pandering to ignorance that today's politicians do on a daily basis. So yea, no one on TV is going to come out and warn about the NWO if they want a job.