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Matthew Skolnik

Dr. Tabitha Clark

English 1111

14 October 2020

Jon Stewart: How Satire Became News

On the night of January 11th, 1999 people around the world turned on their TVs to hear

for the first time, the sound that would signify the redefining of comedy, political satire, and

news for decades to come, "This is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The most important

television program, ever". That intro played throughout Jon Stewart's sixteen year run as the host

of The Daily Show on Comedy Central. During his time on The Daily Show Stewart changed the

way Americans consume their news media. For almost two decades as host of The Daily Show,

Stewart took on many roles in the American media. He would be the voice of reason in a world

that felt like it was collapsing around itself, a voice of mockery poking fun at topics thought to

be taboo, and the voice of hope when reminding Americans how strong people can be when they

come together. The impact Jon Stewart has is continuing to be felt today, and the world of late

night, comedy, and news has never been the same.

Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz was born on November 28, 1962 in New York City. His

family then moved to Lawrenceville, NJ where his father Don Leibowitz worked as a physicist at

a lab in Princeton. Jon’s relationship with his father would become estranged when his family

separated when he was 11. Throughout his time in school Jon would be a victim of antisemitic

bullying. He would say in an interview, “I didn’t grow up in Warsaw, but it’s not like it wasn’t

duly noted by my peers that’s who I was—there were some minor slurs” (Gillick). Stewart
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quickly established himself as comedic and quick witted, saying, “I was very little, so being

funny helped me have big friends” (Gillick). When Jon was 11 his parents got divorced. This

was the start of Jon’s estrangement from his father after he moved out of their house. Stewart’s

reputation as a funny man continued in high school where his interest in politics would also

emerge. He recalls that, “he was ‘left-leaning’ and ‘very into Eugene Debs’” (Gillick). Stewart

spent high school developing his political ideology as well as his trademark wit, and this would

continue in college.

When Jon accepted an honorary doctorate in 2003, he joked, “I came to William and

Mary because as a Jewish person, I wanted to explore the rich tapestry of Judaica that is

Southern Virginia” (Gillick). Jon’s goals of playing professional soccer are what brought him to

William and Mary. Throughout his college career he would be once again known as a funny man

amongst his friends and teammates. In addition to playing soccer Jon and his friends would

frequently discuss politics. Reagan had been elected his freshman year and Stewart and his

friends would have frequent political debates and discussions. Despite seemingly being popular,

he would go on to say how his time in college was, “‘miserable’ and himself as ‘a lost person’.

He pledged to a fraternity but later dropped out when he objected to their hazing practices.

Hopes of playing soccer professionally were also dashed when he suffered a knee injury. After

graduating Stewart returned home and worked odd jobs until he decided to sell his car and move

to New York to try his hand at stand-up.

Still performing under his last name of Leibowitz, Jon made his first comedy club debut

at The Bitter End in the Village. He apparently bombed, telling one interviewer later in his life,

“I went on about 1 in the morning and was terrible and was yanked after five minutes. But I just

kept plugging away” (Speidel). When he was introduced the emcee had butchered the
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pronunciation of his last name. This along with according to Jon, “some leftover resentment at

my family” (Gillick), is what led to him officially changing his name to Stewart. Jon Stewart had

a very successful stand-up career often incorporating his skills in political satire into his jokes.

Eventually his talent would attract the attention of Comedy Central, who at the time were

looking for a new host for their show, The Daily Show.

When Jon Stewart took over hosting The Daily Show in 1998, he was replacing comedian

Craig Killborn. Under Killborn The Daily Show mostly centered around celebrity bashing and

pop culture news, however Jon wanted to go in a different direction. He told an interviewer, “To

me it wasn’t edgy or provocative to just take napalm to a bush for no reason. You wanted it to be

pointed, purposeful, intentional, surgical” (Smith). This shift in content aggravated some of the

show’s original writers who would strongly push back against Jon’s vision for a smarter and

more politics focused show. While he did not want to have to confront the writers, Stewart was

unwilling to compromise on his view for a new Daily Show with a strong emphasis on political

news and satire. According to Stewart he went into the writers' room and, “basically told them all

to f*ck off. You work for me. And if you don’t like the direction, O.K. I get that. Don’t work

here” (Smith). After this Stewart began to form a new team of writers and comedians. Some big

names early on included the likes of Stephen Colbert and Steve Carrel to act as correspondents.

With a dream for his new show and a new talented team by his side Stewart was ready to get to

work.

During the early days of Stewart’s run as host he and his team struggled at first to grow

out of their reputation as just another late-night talk show. However, starting with their coverage

of the Election of 2000 The Daily Show began to gain more and more popularity. Jon’s charisma

and excellent comedic wit led to a large audience. One reporter from the Chicago Times wrote,
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“No one in late night TV comedy distinguished themselves more than Stewart and company,

who brilliantly savaged not only the news but the news media nightly with uncanny accuracy and

zeal” (Yahr). This recognition would continue for Stewart who time and time again distinguish

himself from other late-night hosts for not just his comedic ability but also his heart. After the

attacks on 9/11 Stewart gave a heartfelt monologue where he said while holding back tears, “The

view from the south of Manhattan is now the Statue of Liberty, and you can’t beat that”

(Stewart). The new Daily Show under the leadership of Jon Stewart was nearly unrecognizable

from just a few years earlier. Celebrities were replaced by politicians and Presidential candidates.

Pop culture references were thrown out for stories on the Iraq war and The Great Recession.

Throughout his sixteen years at The Daily Show Stewart distinguished himself as not just one of

the most trusted figures in late-night, but in news.

In 2007 at the height of The Daily Show’s popularity, a Pew Research Center poll asked

people to name the journalist they most admired and according to their results, “Mr. Stewart, the

fake news anchor, came in at No. 4, tied with real news anchors” (Kakutani). Stewart used his

political satire to deliver real journalism to his audience, and in doing so redefined the way

millions of Americans receive their news. Daily Show correspondents hired by Jon Stewart such

as John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, and Hasan Minhaj would go on to have

successful comedy news shows of their own. Even when it came time for Stewart to retire from

The Daily Show, He chose relatively unknown comedian Trevor Noah as his replacement.

Stewart would remain close with many of his fellow Daily Show alumni as well, often appearing

on their shows. Not only did he redefine the media landscape, he paved the way for more shows

like his that continue to do the same.

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Even after leaving The Daily Show in 2015 Stewart refused to quit shining a light on the

hypocrisies of the U.S. government. The cause he has been most vocal in fighting for has been

health care for 9/11 first responders, men and women who are sick and dying from illnesses

resulting from putting their lives on the line to save others in the aftermath of the attack. On June

11th, 2019 Stewart went to Congress to fight for the continuation of the 9/11 Victim

Compensation Fund, however he became saddened and enraged when he and a group of first

responders showed up to a nearly empty Congress. Getting chocked up he slams Congress

saying, “there is not a person, not an empty chair, on that stage that didn’t tweet out never forget

the heroes of 9/11. Never forget their bravery. Never forget what they did, what they gave to this

country, well here they are!” (Stewart). His anger and passion led to massive new support for the

fund and led Congress to sign a bill continuing funding indefinitely. During this Congressional

hearing there were no jokes and no satire to be found, but like his time at the Daily Show Stewart

refused to pull any punches and slammed the hypocrisies in the government.

Throughout his career Jon Stewart has gone from stand-up comedian, to television host,

to activist. When he first arrived as host of The Daily Show there was very little confidence in his

abilities to lead the show. Conflicts with the writers and difficulty distinguishing himself from

other talk show comedians led to many thinking that Stewart and The Daily Show were on their

last legs. However, through his perseverance and commitment to his vision he built a show that

redefined how millions of people got their news. The impact of Jon Stewart can be seen

throughout the worlds of comedy, politics, and news, yet he has shown time and again that his

work is not even close to over.

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Works Cited

Yahr, Emily. “How ‘Indecision 2000’ Changed Everything for Jon Stewart and ‘The Daily

Show.’” Washington Post, The Washington Post, 6 Aug. 2015,

www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2015/08/05/how-indecision-2000-

changed-everything-for-jon-stewart-and-the-daily-show/.

Ɓεαᴜ ȴα ȴα. “Jon Stewart - Unleavened (1996 Stand-Up).” YouTube, 20 June 2013,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn1GOkw5lwI.

“Is Jon Stewart the Most Trusted Man in America? (Published 2008).” The New York Times, 15

Aug. 2008, www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/arts/television/17kaku.html.

“Jon Stewart and ‘The Daily Show’: 9 Essential Moments (Published 2015).” The New York

Times, 4 Aug. 2015, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/08/04/arts/television/jon-stewart-daily-

show-9-essential-moments.html.

Collinson, Stephen. “How Jon Stewart Changed Politics - CNNPolitics.” CNN, 11 Feb. 2015,

www.cnn.com/2015/02/10/politics/how-jon-stewart-changed-politics/index.html.
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CNN. “Jon Stewart Chokes up, Gives Angry Speech to Congress.” YouTube, 11 June 2019,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2QMqsNvWuc. Accessed 9 Oct. 2020.

Gillick, Jeremy. “Meet Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz (Aka Jon Stewart).” Moment Magazine - The

Next 5,000 Years of Conversation Begin Here, 9 Nov. 2011, momentmag.com/meet-jonathan-

stuart-leibowitz-aka-jon-stewart/. Accessed 15 Oct. 2020.

“Prince of Cool Air.” PEOPLE.Com, 2013,

web.archive.org/web/20140304171657/www.people.com/people/article/0,,20107783,00.html.

Accessed 15 Oct. 2020.