| Using a qualitative methodology, this study investigated viewers of The Daily Show (TDS) in order to better understand how the modern television viewing audience, particularly the Generation X demographic, perceives alternative news programming, in terms of the meanings they attach to the communication experience, their attitudes concerning non-traditional news formats, and whether they identify with a larger symbolic community of other viewers. In addition, the research addressed the theoretical relationship between humor and information gathering, with particular emphasis on social identification theory and information short-cuts (group identification and schema-theory). The research was grounded in the symbolic interactionism framework, and data were gathered via a combination of focus groups, long-interviews, and diaries.; The results indicate that modern audiences perceive a "myth of objectivity" in current television news reporting. They consider most reports to be more editorial than objective, but charge that the bulk of the media industry refuses to acknowledge this phenomenon. All respondents categorized The Daily Show as a media satire/news parody program. However, two distinct categories of viewers emerged: those who consider the show strictly as a source for entertainment, and those who consider the show to be a new genre of news programming.; Collectively, respondents identified with a symbolic community of other viewers. This identification appears to be heavily rooted in frustration with traditional network news coverage. Respondents appreciate the satirical commentary The Daily Show provides and see themselves reflected in the program's coverage. The data showed three overall categories for how respondents judged credibility with regard to TDS: (a) respectability, which includes an increased level of status conferred by the mainstream media, as well as a higher caliber of political guests appearing on the show; (b) bias perception (liberal-bias, incumbent-bias, bias of humor, and identification bias); and (c) program format, which encompassed the construct of source credibility as well as the distinction between the show's headline and feature segments. |
