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Whether you love him or hate him, tonight marks Jon Stewart’s final taping of The Daily Show as he steps down as host – a position he’s held for 16 years. During that time, the show has won 20 Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, and Stewart even managed to win a Grammy for himself in 2005 for the recording of his audiobook, America, A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction.
Despite the fact Stewart has always claimed The Daily Show is just a fake news show, the influence he’s had on politics and the media cannot be denied.
In October of 2004, Stewart appeared on CNN’s Crossfire [10] where he heavily criticized the state of journalism and called the show’s hosts, Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala, “partisan hacks.” Stewart commented that the show failed to educate and inform its viewers by not taking politics seriously, stating that calling Crossfire a debate show is like "saying pro wrestling is a show about athletic competition." In January of 2005, CNN announced the cancelation of Crossfire with CNN’s then-incoming president, Jonathan Klein stating, "I think he [Stewart] made a good point about the noise level of these types of shows, which does nothing to illuminate the issues of the day."
Stewart also announced a fake crowdfunding [11] campaign to buy CNN [12] back in July of 2014 after Rupert Murdoch offered $80 billion to buy its parent company, Time Warner. Stewart claimed that for a donation of $5 million, CNN would air a "24-hour, two-week hunt for your lost car keys."
In March of 2009, The Daily Show lambasted CNBC for its shoddy reporting of the financial crisis of 2008. Stewart claimed the network dodged its journalistic duty by merely accepting information from corporations without bothering to investigate further into matters at hand. On March 12, Jim Cramer appeared on The Daily Show [13]where Stewart told him, “I understand you want to make finance entertaining, but it's not a fucking game. And when I watch that, I get, I can't tell you how angry that makes me. Because what it says to me is: you all know. You all know what's going on. You know, you can draw a straight line from those shenanigans to the stuff that was being pulled at Bear, and AIG, and all this derivative market stuff that is this weird Wall Street side bet." That episode of The Daily Show garnered 2.3 million total viewers, and the next day The Daily Show website saw its highest day of traffic year-to-date.
Stewart has also been an advocate for veterans and 9/11 first responders. He’s credited with breaking a Senate deadlock over a bill that would offer healthcare for 9/11 first responders, which passed three days after he featured a group of responders on the show. He also criticized a White House proposal to remove veterans with private insurance plans from the Department of Veterans Affairs rolls. The White House dropped the plan the next day.
South African comedian, Trevor Noah, who has been a regular contributor to The Daily Show since December of 2014, will replace Stewart. He will begin his hosting duties on September 28. On Wednesday it was announced that Stewart's Daily Show set will be put on display at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.
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