Saw an article the other day in USA Today on the Daily Show -- the Comedy Channel's attempt to do a news program. Some people have believed that host Jon Stewart's approach to news (basically parady and humor) is causing an increased cynicism or apathy by younger people as it relates to politics and the news media. However, a new study just released points to the fact that Daily Show viewers (a substantial percentage of who are 18-24) are actually "more confident about their own ability to understand politics" than those who "consumed" the network news (those cynics among us could have saved them the trouble). It makes sense. Afterall, in order to "get" the humor of the Daily Show, one has to already know something substantial about the stories they parody.Another intriguing note from this article is that reading newspapers (on- or off-line)increases political awareness. No surprise there. But, searching the internet (which is where most 18-24 year-olds get their news) increases both political awareness AND civic engagement. In other words, the Daily Show generation is not only more apt to be more concerned about society, but also more likely to be spurred to do something about it.
Yet another great trend from the emerging generation.
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