“The Daily Show”
On Tuesday’s “Daily Show,” Jon Stewart responded to PolitiFact’s “False” verdict on his claim that Fox News watchers are “the most consistently misinformed media viewers.” Here’s an excerpt:
I may have during the [“Fox News Sunday”] interview [with Chris Wallace] mentioned that Fox News viewers are, quote, the most consistently misinformed media viewers …As it turns out I was misinformed, which should not have been surprising because I watch a lot of Fox News. … PolitiFact, the nonpartisan fact-checking guy or guys or girl, thoroughly researched my statement and they found that while in two of the surveys Fox News viewers scored the lowest, in other polls they were merely near the bottom. …
Anyway, ultimately PolitiFact declared my statement false. I defer to their judgment and I apologize for my mistake. To not do so would be irresponsible, and if I were to continue to make such mistakes and misstatements and not correct them – especially if each and every one of those misstatements happened to go in one very particular direction on the political spectrum, well that would undermine the very integrity and credibility that I work so hard to pretend to care about.
Stewart then took a look at PolitiFact’s old rulings on Fox News statements; the network didn’t do very well. On Tuesday afternoon, PolitiFact wrote about reaction to its ruling on Stewart. “The response from readers was swift and virtually unanimous. They said we were wrong. …A tiny minority of people who wrote us offered praise for our work.”
> Rainey: Wallace bored in on the comedian as if he were a presidential contender
> Stewart blasts sensationalism — but is that really so bad?
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