From a letter to the editor in the Chicago Tribune Oct 5, 2006 by Baru Wangombe
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_opinion_letters/2006/10/newsstarved_vie.html
"In the Sept. 28 editorial "The Jon and Pervez show," the Tribune stated that "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart is a fake news show.
"I know that "The Daily Show" is broadcast on a comedy channel, and utilizes humor in the presentation. That does not make it fake.
"In actuality, "The Daily Show" has increasingly become the only source of unblemished and objective news that a lot of people rely on.
But despite first impressions, Baru is not deluded. He has some good points to make:
"Unfortunately most of the conventional media have adopted a format of reporting both sides of an issue, as if that is journalism.
"Where is the journalist when both political factions are issuing misleading statements?
The reader or viewer is left to reach a purportedly informed opinion, based on two wrong versions of the issue.
"It is also unclear to me where the concept of both sides of an issue came from. I have never seen a room full of people that can be divided into two sets of uniform consensus. People's impressions, opinions and viewpoints are as varied as humans are complex. Therefore there are many sides to all issues.
"The greatest failing of the conventional media is the tendency to give full coverage to positions of politicians and administrators without critical review."
He might also have added that a lot of what passes for "news" is lightly re-written press releases.
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