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But then, out of politeness, she suggested that Stewart was educating young people on political issues. The idea that the “Daily Show” format really gets young people to care about the world, however, is ludicrous. Its tone tells us to dismiss the world as absurd.
I disagree. The Daily Show usually manages to convey that things actually do matter, even though media coverage of those things is quite absurd. It's an episode of Hardball or Inside Politics which tells you to dismiss the world as absurd.
I do think certain types of irreverent satire can turn people off, but I don't think the Daily Show is one of them. South Park is more guilty of this -- it adopts the pose that everything is bullshit and that you're uncool unless you understand that.