What If The Most Trusted Man in Broadcast News Wasn't a Journalist? What does that say about us?

The New York Times' critic Michiko Kakutani wrote an interesting, lengthy article about the most trusted man in broadcast news.

According to the 2007 poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, when asked to name the journalist they most admired, Americans picked a tie for No. 4 that included Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, Dan Rather, Anderson Cooper -- who have all spent decades practicing journalists.

But there was one other person who was ranked No. 4 among admired journalists, and one of the interesting things is that he doesn't even consider himself to be a journalist.

You might think he's got to be joking.

But he's not.

He's Jon Stewart, host of "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central.

What does it mean that Americans selected a comedian as one of the most admired people in broadcast news? For that matter, what does it mean that surveys have shown that people who watch "The Daily Show," a fake news program (whose slogan once was: "When news breaks, we fix it" but has evolved to "We deliver the news first -- before it's true"), are better informed about current events than viewers of "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News, which is a real news program on a news channel.

What it means is that we've come a long way since Walter Cronkite delivered the news.

It's worth checking out Kakutani's article, "Is Jon Stewart the Most Trusted Man in America?"

Administration Goes Official with Fake News

The Bush Administration, seeing the popularity and influence of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report," has apparently gone into the fake news business for real.

FEMA wanted to hold a press conference but didn't give reporters enough time to actually attend the conference. FEMA went ahead with the conference anyway.

According to the New York Times, "With no reporters in the room — only television camera crews — FEMA’s public affPublish Postairs department decided to go ahead with the event anyway. The agency’s own staff played the role of the press corps, posing unusually respectful questions for the deputy administrator, Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson Jr., retired. 'Are you happy with FEMA’s response so far?' one asked."

The PA executive ultimately resigned, and was designed a new government job.

Again, according to the Times, "In retrospect, he said (the official), when he realized that no reporters were in the room and it was the agency’s staff that was asking questions, he should have called off the news conference. 'I should have jumped up regardless of how awkward it would had been and said, "Wait a minute, time out,” he said. “My mistake.”'"

I wonder if FEMA will borrow "The Daily Show's" old slogan, "When News Breaks, We Fix It."