Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

the slacker zone

Daily Show viewers may be “slackers” — but they’re well-informed slackers, at least compared to their non-Daily Show-watching demographic counterparts.

After Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly dismissed the Daily Show audience as a bunch of “stoned slackers” watching a “dopey show” (with Jon Stewart as his guest!) earlier this month, Comedy Central’s PR flacks rushed to avert any “misconceptions” about the show, saying that their demographic research shows that Stewart’s audience is better educated than O’Reilly’s. (AP: “Comedy Central refutes O’Reilly’s Claim” - 09/27/04)

Viewers of Jon Stewart’s show are more likely to have completed four years of college than people who watch “The O’Reilly Factor,” according to Nielsen Media Research…

Comedy Central also touted a recent study by the University of Pennsylvania’s National Annenberg Election Survey, which said young viewers of “The Daily Show” were more likely to answer questions about politics correctly than those who don’t.

Comedy Central had no statistics on how many people watch “The Daily Show” stoned.

Incidentally, O’Reilly is scheduled to appear on The Daily Show on Thursday, Oct. 7.

(Thanks to Rob for the link.)