Is this man keeping you from voting?

Two researchers from East Carolina University have concluded that "The Daily Show" keeps young people from voting.

We find that participants exposed to jokes about George W. Bush and John Kerry on The Daily Show tended to rate both candidates more negatively, even when controlling for partisanship and other demographic variables. Moreover, we find that viewers exhibit more cynicism toward the electoral system and the news media at large. Despite these negative reactions, viewers of The Daily Show reported increased confidence in their ability to understand the complicated world of politics. Our findings are significant in the burgeoning field of research on the effects of "soft news" on the American public. Although research indicates that soft news contributes to democratic citizenship in America by reaching out to the inattentive public, our findings indicate that The Daily Show may have more detrimental effects, driving down support for political institutions and leaders among those already inclined toward nonparticipation.

First off, who knew there was an East Carolina? (Hey, Paul, why didn't you tell me about this?) Secondly, regular readers know I'm a Jon Stewart fan boy, so my knee-jerk reaction to this is to say, "Screw you, East Carolina!" But this study raises an interesting point: Does satire make people apathetic? As a lover of satire, my heart says no. But my head isn't so sure. The core audience for "The Daily Show" likely wouldn't get any political information without the show, so I'm inclined to think they're better off with Jon Stewart than, say, "Mad TV." (The single unfunniest show to ever last more than 10 years.)

But there is an undeniable self-congratulatory undercurrent running through "The Daily Show" that compliments people for thinking the system sucks, politicians are liars and the whole "serious news" thing is ridiculous. And that's not exactly a message that encourages people to get involved. Rather, it says, "You're OK sitting on your couch and being cynical about everything without really knowing anything." I'm not comfortable with that conclusion, and I'm even more uncomfortable with the idea that I'm susceptible to such reassurances, but my gut says it's true.

It just goes to show that in this media culture, man can't live on one source of information alone.