Why the Daily Show Draws More People Than the 6 o’Clock News

In short: it headlines more honest, accessible, and critical journalism than we get anywhere else.

Take this presentation of the depths of corruption in our government.

And it’s also got some of the best political interviews on cable. Cliff May actually says it outright, in one of the more interesting blowhard-offs I’ve seen on cable news.

And this assessment of the difficulties with TARP — directly from the woman responsible for Congressional oversight — is one of the most straightforward, clear portrayals of the situation that I’ve heard anywhere.

And yes, it’s very funny, with a knack for bringing out the humor in idiotic partisan ideologues.

(Jump to 2:30 in)

And, my personal favorite recent clip — skip to 4:20 and watch to the end for the best part.

Back when Bush was in office, I used to watch Olbermann, but he’s become radicalized and smug since Obama took office (in short, he’s acting more like Rachel Maddow) — as you can probably guess, I’m not fan of MSNBC. As Jon Stewart noted, CNN has become the new Fox, so they’re out, too.

I am pretty happy with NBC-17 and Shooting the Bull for local news, and thankfully, NPR’s still there for me: despite their pro-liberal reputation, I find their reporting to be refreshingly factual and balanced. And since In the Loop moved from an on-air broadcast to a podcast, the show’s gotten even better, with a lot of interesting stories that you wouldn’t have heard about otherwise.

(And yes, my Blogging Hiatus is still on.)

[Edit: And one more, which demonstrates the ridiculousness of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". ]