Jon Stewart 'wins' content battle with TV networks

Now here's a fascinating piece of research: a comparative study of the material broadcast during the 2004 presidential campaign by the main US networks and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a satirical programme with a large following. And the result? You guessed. According to the woman who led the research - Julia Fox, assistant professor of telecommunications at Indiana University - Stewart's show was just as substantive as the network coverage. No wonder the study is called "No joke". Fox says that though it's "clearly a humour show... there is also substantive dialogue going on... It's a legitimate source of news." The networks' coverage contained considerably more hype than substance, she says, adding: "We've been wringing our hands for decades that the networks aren't doing enough substance in the political coverage, so is it any real surprise?" Er, no. (Via Indiana University)