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Jay Fix (September 6, 1918 - September 17, 1989), known professionally as Jay Stewart, was an American television and radio announcer known primarily for his work on game shows. One of his longest-lasting roles was as the announcer on the game show Let's Make a Deal, which he announced throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Other shows for which he announced regularly include the Reg Grundy productions Scrabble and Sale of the Century, as well as the Jack Barry-Dan Enright productions The Joker's Wild, Tic-Tac-Dough and Bullseye. Stewart committed suicide in 1989.

Education and early career[link]

Born in Summitville, Indiana, Stewart broke into show business as a saxophone player. He attended Butler University and won a 1939 award as one of the outstanding Sigma Chi graduates in the United States. After graduation he landed radio announcing jobs at WBOW in Terre Haute and WLW in Cincinnati. In 1943 Stewart moved to Los Angeles, where he continued his career as a radio announcer. In 1953 Stewart became the host of NBC radio's It Pays To Be Married.^[1]

Stewart was one of the hosts for Town Hall Party, a Los Angeles-based country music program airing from 1952 to 1961 and carried by KFI radio and KTTV-TV television.^[2] He was also an announcer for The Mike Douglas Show when production moved to Los Angeles in the late-1970s.

Stewart married the former Phyllis Kiser and the couple had two daughters, Jamie and Julie.

Career highlights[link]

Stewart was perhaps best known for his work on Let's Make a Deal and in the 1980s on Sale of the Century. Let's Make a Deal host Monty Hall called Stewart "the best second banana you ever found in your life" and said that "it was a very, very good feeling between us."^[3] On Let's Make a Deal Stewart participated onstage as well as announcing, often seen modeling the show's "zonk" prizes (a practice also used by current announcer Jonathan Mangum).^[4]

Stewart was also the primary announcer for all Barry & Enright game shows from 1977 until 1981, including The Joker's Wild, Tic-Tac-Dough, and Bullseye. Charlie O'Donnell took over the role on the Barry-Enright shows starting in the 1981-82 season, when Stewart left due to his daughter's suicide.

In 1981, Jay was selected by Mark Goodson to announce approximately two months worth of episodes on Card Sharks, pairing him with future Sale of the Century host Jim Perry. It was Stewart's only announcing assignment for Mark Goodson Productions, occurring while he was still employed with Barry & Enright. Stewart was brought in to substitute for regular announcer Gene Wood, who was recovering from a serious automobile accident.

Besides his duties on the NBC and syndicated versions of $ale of the Century, Stewart announced the first two years of Scrabble before being replaced by Charlie Tuna in 1986. He also made a cameo appearance on the series finale of The All-New Let's Make a Deal in 1986 alongside original LMaD prize model Carol Merrill; Stewart's appearance, like many of his on-screen appearances on the original series, was modeling a zonk a player had just won. In addition, between his stints with Barry & Enright and Reg Grundy Productions, Stewart was the voice-over for National Enquirer commercials, which he continued to do until around 1986.

Stewart left Sale of the Century in 1988. His final announcing position was on Blackout shortly after his departure from Sale, where he replaced Johnny Gilbert as the show's announcer for its final two weeks.

Later work, decline and death[link]

In late 1981, Stewart's daughter Jamie committed suicide. During this time, he took a year-and-a-half respite from announcing and found religion, appearing on The 700 Club to proclaim his newfound faith, which led to him doing voiceover promos for host Pat Robertson's CBN Cable. He returned to the game show arena in 1983 as the announcer of Sale of the Century, which he held for five years. Stewart also co-hosted with Jim Perry for a week around late 1983, when then-hostess Lee Menning was on maternity leave, and participated in several Instant Bargains during the course of his tenure on Sale. In 1983, Stewart announced for a pilot of the revival of Jeopardy! hosted by Alex Trebek, but the job eventually went to Johnny Gilbert, who announced for a later pilot and all subsequent episodes.

Stewart could not overcome the pain of his daughter's death and turned increasingly to alcohol, which ultimately led to his departure from $ale of the Century in January 1988. During this time, he moved into the managerial field; one of his clients was Harry Stevens, who announced the syndicated version of Finders Keepers and the 1989 version of Pictionary.

Stewart committed suicide by shooting himself in the carport of his home on September 17, 1989, as the result of severe depression; he had also suffered from chronic, intractable back pain for years, reportedly due to frequent heavy lifting during his work on Let's Make a Deal (Stewart had to carry prize display tables to and from the audience area whenever a game on Let's Make a Deal called for them; he would bring out the prizes, announce them, then take them back offstage when done).^[1]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jay Stewart

• Jay Stewart at the Internet Movie Database
• Jay Stewart at TV.com

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Jay Rosen
Born	(1956-05-05) May 5, 1956 (age 56) Buffalo, New York, USA
Alma mater	New York University (PhD, 1986)
Occupation	Press critic, writer, and professor of journalism

Jay Rosen (born May 5, 1956 in Buffalo, New York) is a media critic, a writer, and a professor of journalism at New York University.

Rosen has been on the journalism faculty at New York University since 1986; from 1999 to 2005 he served as chair of the Department.^[1]

He has been one of the earliest advocates and supporters of citizen journalism, encouraging the press to take a more active interest in citizenship, improving public debate, and enhancing life. His book about the subject, What Are Journalists For? was published in 1999. Rosen is often described in the media as an intellectual leader of the movement of public journalism.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Rosen writes frequently about issues in journalism and developments in the media. Media criticism and other articles by Rosen have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times^[9] Salon.com, Harper's Magazine, and The Nation.

He runs his own weblog called PressThink, which concentrates on what's happening to journalism in the age of the Net. His writing for the weblog won the Reporters Without Borders Freedom Blog award in 2005. He is also a semi-regular contributor to The Huffington Post.

Rosen currently resides in New York City.

In July 2006, he announced NewAssignment.Net, a project linking professional journalists and internet users. The project has received contributions of $10,000 by the Sunlight Foundation, $10,000 by Craig Newmark, $75,000 from Cambrian House and $100,000 by Reuters.

Since 2009 Rosen has collaborated with technologist and writer Dave Winer on "Rebooting the News," a weekly podcast on technology and innovation in journalism.

Notable PressThink columns and posts by Jay Rosen[link]

March 10, 2011, "They Brought a Tote Bag to a Knife Fight: The Resignation of NPR’s CEO, Vivian Schiller".^[10]

January 20, 2008, "The Campaign Press is a Herd of Independent Minds"^[11]

April 14, 2007, "Karl Rove and the Religion of the Washington Press",^[12]

"Savviness--that quality of being shrewd, practical, well-informed, perceptive, ironic, 'with it,' and unsentimental in all things political--is, in a sense, their professional religion. They make a cult of it. And it was this cult that Karl Rove understood and exploited for political gain."

Conservatives think the ideology of the Washington press corps is liberal. Liberals think the press is conservative in the sense of protecting its place in the political establishment. Karl Rove once said that the press is “less liberal than it is oppositional.” (A fascinating remark coming from Rove, since it appears to put him at odds with the conservative base.)

Whereas I believe that the real—and undeclared—ideology of American journalism is savviness, and this is what made the press so vulnerable to the likes of Karl Rove.

Savviness! Deep down, that’s what reporters want to believe in and actually do believe in— their own savviness and the savviness of certain others (including operators like Karl Rove.) In politics, they believe, it’s better to be savvy than it is to be honest or correct on the facts. It’s better to be savvy than it is to be just, good, fair, decent, strictly lawful, civilized, sincere or humane.

Savviness is what journalists admire in others. Savvy is what they themselves dearly wish to be. (And to be unsavvy is far worse than being wrong.) Savviness—that quality of being shrewd, practical, well-informed, perceptive, ironic, “with it,” and unsentimental in all things political—is, in a sense, their professional religion. They make a cult of it. And it was this cult that Karl Rove understood and exploited for political gain.'^[12]

June 27, 2006, "The People Formerly Known as the Audience,"^[13]

The people formerly known as the audience are those who were on the receiving end of a media system that ran one way, in a broadcasting pattern, with high entry fees and a few firms competing to speak very loudly while the rest of the population listened in isolation from one another— and who today are not in a situation like that at all.

• Once they were your printing presses; now that humble device, the blog, has given the press to us. That’s why blogs have been called little First Amendment machines. They extend freedom of the press to more actors.

• Once it was your radio station, broadcasting on your frequency. Now that brilliant invention, podcasting, gives radio to us. And we have found more uses for it than you did.

• Shooting, editing and distributing video once belonged to you, Big Media. Only you could afford to reach a TV audience built in your own image. Now video is coming into the user’s hands, and audience-building by former members of the audience is alive and well on the Web.

• You were once (exclusively) the editors of the news, choosing what ran on the front page. Now we can edit the news, and our choices send items to our own front pages.

• A highly centralized media system had connected people “up” to big social agencies and centers of power but not “across” to each other. Now the horizontal flow, citizen-to-citizen, is as real and consequential as the vertical.

^[13]

April 9, 2006, "Murray Waas is Our Woodward Now"^[14]

March 1, 2005, "The Abyss of Observation Alone"^[15]

September 22, 2004,"Philip Gourevitch: Campaign Reporting as Foreign Beat"^[16]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rosen's Twitter account
• Interview with Rosen, by Richard Poynder – on poynder.blogspot.com (personal blog)
• Jay Rosen – New York University Department of Journalism faculty directory entry
• "Lessons in scale from mediavolunteer.org", by Jay Rosen, posted at NewAssignment.Net ("An experiment in open-source reporting") – personal blog post of October 10, 2006. Accessed March 6, 2007.
• Jay Rosen,a "Murray Waas Is Our Woodward Now". PressThink (blog), April 9, 2006. Accessed June 20, 2007.
• PressThink: Ghost of Democracy in the Media Machine – Jay Rosen's personal blog
• Video (and audio) of debate/discussion with Jay Rosen on Bloggingheads.tv
• Fact and Friction, interview with Jay Rosen on storytelling in journalism

Rachel Maddow
Maddow hosting KPTK's "Changing the Media, Changing America" event in Seattle
Born	Rachel Anne Maddow (1973-04-01) April 1, 1973 (age 39) Castro Valley, California, U.S.
Education	B.A., Stanford University D.Phil, University of Oxford
Occupation	News anchor Political commentator Television host
Notable credit(s)	The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC) The Rachel Maddow Show (Air America Radio)
Website
www.rachelmaddow.com

Rachel Anne Maddow (pronounced /ˈmædoʊ/; born April 1, 1973) is an American television host, political commentator, and author.^[1][2] Maddow hosts a nightly television show, The Rachel Maddow Show, on MSNBC.^[3] Her syndicated talk radio program of the same name aired on Air America Radio. Maddow is the first openly gay anchor of a prime-time news program in the United States.^[4][5][6][7]

Asked about her political views by the Valley Advocate, Maddow replied, "I'm undoubtedly a liberal, which means that I'm in almost total agreement with the Eisenhower-era Republican party platform."^[8]

Early life and education[link]

Maddow was born in Castro Valley, California. Her father, Robert B. "Bob" Maddow, is a former United States Air Force captain who resigned his commission the year before her birth and found civilian work as a lawyer for the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Her mother, Elaine Maddow (née Gosse), is a school program administrator from Newfoundland, Canada.^[9][10][11] She has one older brother, David. Her father is of Russian and Dutch descent and her mother is of English and Irish ancestry.^[11] Maddow's mother was raised a strict Roman Catholic, and Maddow herself grew up in a community that her mother has described as "very conservative."^[12][13] Maddow was a competitive athlete and played three sports in high school.^[14] Referencing John Hughes films, she describes herself in high school as "a cross between the jock and the antisocial girl."^[13]

A graduate of Castro Valley High School in Castro Valley, California, she attended Stanford University. While a freshman, she was outed by the college newspaper when an interview with her was published by the student newspaper before she could tell her parents.^[15] Maddow earned a degree in public policy from Stanford in 1994.^[16] At graduation she was awarded the John Gardner Fellowship.^[17] She was also the recipient of a Rhodes Scholarship and began her postgraduate study in 1995 at Lincoln College, Oxford. In 2001, she earned a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in politics from Oxford University.^[18] Her thesis is titled HIV/AIDS and Health Care Reform in British and American Prisons (supervisor: Dr Lucia Zedner). She was the first openly gay American to win a Rhodes scholarship.^[19][20]

Radio career[link]

Maddow's first radio hosting job was at WRNX (100.9 FM) in Holyoke, Massachusetts, after she entered and won a contest the station held to find a new on-air personality.^[21] She was hired to co-host WRNX's morning show, The Dave in the Morning Show. She went on to host Big Breakfast on WRSI, in Northampton, Massachusetts, for two years. She left the show in March 2004 to join the new Air America.^[18] There she hosted Unfiltered along with Chuck D (of the hip hop group Public Enemy) and Lizz Winstead (co-creator of The Daily Show), until its cancellation in March 2005.^[22] Two weeks after the cancellation of Unfiltered in April 2005, Maddow's weekday two-hour radio program, The Rachel Maddow Show, began airing; in March 2008 it gained an hour, broadcasting from 6 to 9 p.m. EST with David Bender filling in the third hour for the call-in section, when Maddow was on TV assignment. In September 2008, the show's length returned to two hours when Maddow began a nightly MSNBC television program. In February 2009, after renewing her contract with Air America, Maddow returned to the 5 am hour-long slot.^[23] Her last Air America show was on January 21, 2010, two weeks before its owners filed for bankruptcy.^[24]

Television career[link]

In June 2005, Maddow became a regular panelist on MSNBC's Tucker.^[25] During and after the November 2006 election, she was a frequent guest on CNN's Paula Zahn Now. In January 2008, Maddow became a MSNBC political analyst and was a regular panelist on MSNBC's Race for the White House with David Gregory and MSNBC's election coverage,^[26] as well as a frequent contributor on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.^[18]

In April 2008, Maddow was the substitute host for Countdown with Keith Olbermann, her first time hosting a program on MSNBC. Maddow described herself on air as "nervous." Keith Olbermann complimented her work, and she was brought back to host Countdown the next month. The show she hosted was the highest rated news program among people ages 25 to 54, a key demographic in ratings.^[27] For her success, the next Monday, Olbermann ranked Maddow third in his show's segment "World's Best Persons".^[28] In July 2008, while Olbermann was on vacation, Maddow filled in again for several broadcasts and, on July 21, for half the show.^[29] Maddow also filled in for David Gregory as host of Race for the White House.^[18]

[edit] The Rachel Maddow Show

In August 2008, MSNBC announced The Rachel Maddow Show would replace Verdict with Dan Abrams in the network's 9 p.m. slot the following month.^[30][31] Following its debut, the show topped Countdown as the highest rated show on MSNBC on several occasions.^[32][33] After being on air for more than a month, Maddow's program doubled the audience that hour.^[34]

Early reviews for her show were mostly positive. The Los Angeles Times writer Matea Gold stated Maddow "finds the right formula on MSNBC,"^[35] and The Guardian writes Maddow has become the "star of America's cable news."^[20] Associated Press columnist David Bauder said she's "[Keith] Olbermann's political soul mate" and the Olbermann-Maddow shows are a "liberal two-hour block."^[36]

Public image and publicity[link]

Maddow has been profiled in People,^[37] the Guardian,^[38] and the New York Observer,^[39] has appeared on “The View” and “Charlie Rose”^[40]

Keith Olbermann played a pivotal role in Maddow's hiring at MSNBC. Olbermann was able to pressure Phil Griffin to give Maddow Dan Abram's slot. A fan of Maddow's, Olbermann was able to use his influence, which had become greater as his ratings rose.^[41]

A 2011 Hollywood Reporter profile of Maddow said that she was able to deliver news "with agenda, but not hysteria.”^[42] A Newsweek profile noted that “At her best, Maddow debates ideological opponents with civility and persistence...But for all her eloquence, she can get so wound up ripping Republicans that she sounds like another smug cable partisan.". Baltimore Sun critic David Zurawik has accused Maddow of acting like 'a lockstep party member.'”^[43]

A Time profile called her a “whip-smart, button-cute leftie.” It said that she radiates an essential decency and suggested that her career rise might signify that “nice is the new nasty.”^[44]

Political views[link]

Distinguishing herself from others on the left, Maddow said she's a "national security liberal" and in a different interview that she's not "a partisan."^[45][46] The New York Times called her a "defense policy wonk" who is writing a book on the role of the military in postwar American politics.^[35][45] (The book, titled Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power, was published in 2012.) During the 2008 presidential election, Maddow did not formally support any candidate. Concerning Barack Obama's candidacy, Maddow said during the primaries, "I have never and still don't think of myself as an Obama supporter, either professionally or actually."^[47]

In March 2010, Republican Scott Brown, the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts, speculated that Maddow was going to run against him for his seat in 2012. He used this premise for a fundraising email that read "...The Massachusetts political machine is looking for someone to run against me. And you're not going to believe who they are supposedly trying to recruit — liberal MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow." Maddow said Brown's speculation was false. On her March 23, 2010, TV program, Maddow said, "I have the best job in the world. I am not running for office. Scott Brown didn't ask me if I was running or planning to run for office, before he wrote a fundraising letter with my name. No, it's completely made up by him." Despite her comments, the next day Brown continued along the same line, telling a Boston radio station, "Bring her on." To help put an end to the matter, Maddow ran a full-page advertisement in the Boston Globe confirming she was not running, and separately demanded Brown's apology. She added that despite repeated invitations over the months, Brown had refused to appear on her TV program.^{[48][49][50][51]}

Personal life[link]

Maddow lives in Manhattan and western Massachusetts with her partner, artist Susan Mikula.^[52][53] The couple met in 1999, when Mikula hired Maddow to do yard work at her home. Maddow was working on her doctoral dissertation at the time.^[52] Their first date was at a National Rifle Association "Ladies' Day on the Range" event.^[54] Although Massachusetts and New York recognize same-sex marriage, as of 2009 Maddow and Mikula had no plans to marry.^[13]

Honors and awards[link]

• Emmy Award in the Outstanding News Discussion and Analysis category for "The Rachel Maddow Show" episode "Good Morning Landlocked Central Asia!"
• Maddow was named in Out magazine's "Out 100" list of the "gay men and women who moved culture" in 2008.^[55]
• Maddow was voted "Lesbian/Bi Woman of the Year (American)" in AfterEllen's 2008 Visibility Awards.^[56]
• Maddow won a Gracie Award in 2009, presented by the American Women in Radio and Television.^[57]
• In 2009, Maddow was nominated for GLAAD's 20th Annual Media Awards for a segment of her MSNBC show, "Rick Warren, Change To Believe In?", in the Outstanding TV Journalism Segment category.^[58]
• On March 28, 2009, Maddow received a Proclamation of Honor from the California State Senate, presented in San Francisco by California State Senator Mark Leno.^[59]
• In April 2009, she was listed at number four in Out magazine's Annual Power 50 List.^[60]
• Maddow placed sixth in the "2009 AfterEllen.com Hot 100" list (May 11, 2009)^[61] and third in its "2009 Hot 100: Out Women" version.^[62]
• Maddow was included on a list of openly gay media professionals in The Advocate's "Forty under 40" issue of June/July 2009.^[63]
• In 1994, Maddow was an Honorable Mention in the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity Prize in Ethics.^[64]
• In June 2009, Maddow's MSNBC show was the only cable news show nominated for a Television Critics Association award in the Outstanding Achievement in News and Information category.^[65]
• In March 2010, Maddow won at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in the category, Outstanding TV Journalism- Newsmagazine for her segment, "Uganda Be Kidding Me".^[66]
• Maddow was the 2010 commencement speaker and was given an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree at Smith College in Northampton, MA in May 2010.^[67]
• In July 2010, Maddow was presented with a Maggie Award for her ongoing reporting of healthcare reform, the murder of Dr. George Tiller, and the anti-abortion movement.^[68]
• In August 2010, Maddow won the Walter Cronkite Faith & Freedom Award, which was presented by The Interfaith Alliance.^[69] Past honorees included Larry King, Tom Brokaw, and the late Peter Jennings.^[69]
• In November 2011, she was included on the list of "Over-Rated Thinkers" by the editors of The New Republic.^[70]
• In February 2012, Maddow was presented the John Steinbeck Award by the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University.^[71]

Bibliography[link]

• Maddow, Rachel (2012). Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power. Crown. ISBN 978-0-307-46098-1. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rachel Maddow

• Rachel Maddow on Twitter
• Official website
• Profile and show at MSNBC
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Rachel Maddow on Charlie Rose
• Rachel Maddow at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Rachel Maddow in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Jon Stewart
Stewart at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, October 30, 2010
Birth name	Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz
Born	(1962-11-28) November 28, 1962 (age 49) New York City, New York, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, books
Nationality	American
Years active	1987–present
Genres	Satire/political satire/news satire, observational comedy
Subject(s)	Mass media/news media/media criticism, American politics, current events, religion, Jewish culture, race relations, human sexuality, self-deprecation
Influences	George Carlin,[1] Woody Allen,[2] Lenny Bruce,[3] David Letterman,[4] Steve Martin,[5] Richard Pryor[6]
Influenced	Stephen Colbert,[7] Steve Carell, Ed Helms, Rob Corddry
Spouse	Tracey McShane Stewart (2000— ; 2 children)
Notable works and roles	Host of The Daily Show Host of The Jon Stewart Show America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011 The Daily Show Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 The Daily Show
Grammy Awards
Best Comedy Album 2005 America (The Audiobook): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction Best Spoken Word Album 2011 Earth (The Audiobook): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race

Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962)^[6] is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian. He is widely known as host of The Daily Show, a satirical news program that airs on Comedy Central.

Stewart started as a stand-up comedian, but branched into television as host of Short Attention Span Theater for Comedy Central. He went on to host his own show on MTV, called The Jon Stewart Show, and then hosted another show on MTV called You Wrote It, You Watch It. He has also had several film roles as an actor. Stewart became the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central in early 1999. He is also a writer and co-executive-producer of the show. After Stewart joined, The Daily Show steadily gained popularity and critical acclaim, resulting in his sixteen Emmy Awards.

Stewart has gained acclaim as an acerbic, satirical critic of personality-driven media shows, in particular those of the US media networks such as CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC.^[8] Critics say Stewart benefits from a double standard: he critiques other news shows from the safe, removed position of his "fake news" desk.^[9][10] Stewart agrees, saying that neither his show nor his channel purports to be anything other than satire and comedy. In spite of its self-professed entertainment mandate, The Daily Show has been nominated for news and journalism awards. Stewart hosted the 78th and 80th Academy Awards. He is the co-author of America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, which was one of the best-selling books in the U.S. in 2004^[11] and Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race released in 2010.

Early life[link]

Stewart was born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz in New York City, to a Jewish family. He and his older brother, Larry, who is currently Chief Operating Officer of NYSE Euronext (parent company of the New York Stock Exchange),^[12] grew up in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, where they attended Lawrence High School.^[6] Jon's mother, Marian (née Laskin), is an educational consultant and teacher.^[13] His father, Donald, was a professor of physics at The College of New Jersey from 2001 through 2008; he now teaches an online course at Thomas Edison State College.^[14] Jon's parents were divorced when Stewart was eleven years old, and Stewart no longer has any contact with his father.^[6] According to Stewart, he was subjected to anti-Semitic bullying as a child.^[7] He describes himself in high school as "very into Eugene Debs and a bit of a leftist."^[15]

Stewart graduated in 1984 from The College of William & Mary in Virginia, where he played on the soccer team and initially majored in chemistry before switching to psychology.^[16][17] While at William & Mary, Stewart became a brother of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.^[18] After college, Stewart held numerous jobs; a contingency planner for the New Jersey Department of Human Services, a contract administrator for the City University of New York, a puppeteer for children with disabilities, a caterer, a busboy, a shelf stocker at Woolworth's, and a bartender at the Franklin Corner Tavern, a local blue-collar bar.^[6][17][19] In college, Stewart was friends with future Congressman Anthony Weiner, who is the only politician to have received campaign donations from Stewart.^[20]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

With a reputation for being a funny man in school,^[6][17] Jon Stewart moved to New York City in 1986 to try his hand at the comedy club circuit, but he could not muster the courage to get on stage until the following year.^[21] He made his stand-up debut at The Bitter End, where his comedic idol, Woody Allen, also began.^[2] He began using the stage name "Jon Stewart" by dropping his last name and changing the spelling of his middle name "Stuart" to "Stewart." He often jokes this is because people had difficulty with the pronunciation of Leibowitz or it "sounded too Hollywood" (a reference to Lenny Bruce's joke on the same theme).^[22] He has implied that the name change was actually due to a strained relationship with his father, with whom Stewart no longer has any contact.^[19]

Stewart became a regular at the Comedy Cellar, where he was the last performer every night. For two years, he would perform at 2 a.m. while developing his comedic style.^[23] In 1989 Stewart landed his first television job as a writer for Caroline's Comedy Hour. In 1991 he began co-hosting Comedy Central's Short Attention Span Theater, with Patty Rosborough. In 1992 Stewart hosted the short-lived You Wrote It, You Watch It on MTV, which invited viewers to send in their stories to be acted out by the comedy troupe, The State. When David Letterman left NBC in 1993, Stewart was a finalist to replace him, but Conan O'Brien was hired instead.^[22]

[edit] The Jon Stewart Show

Later in 1993, Stewart developed The Jon Stewart Show, a talk show on MTV. The Jon Stewart Show was the first talk show on that network and was an instant hit, becoming the second-highest rated MTV show behind Beavis and Butt-head.^[24] In 1994 Paramount pulled the plug on The Arsenio Hall Show and, with new corporate sibling MTV (through MTV parent Viacom's acquisition of the studio), launched an hour-long syndicated late-night version of The Jon Stewart Show. Many local affiliates had moved Hall's show to 2 a.m. during its decline and Stewart's show inherited such early morning time slots in many cities. Ratings were dismal and the show was canceled in June 1995.

Amongst the fans of the show was David Letterman, who was the final guest of The Jon Stewart Show. Letterman signed Stewart with his production company, Worldwide Pants.^[25] Stewart then became a frequent guest host for Tom Snyder on The Late Late Show, which was produced by Letterman and aired after Late Show on CBS. This led to much speculation that Stewart would soon replace Snyder permanently,^[26] but Stewart was instead offered the time slot after Snyder, which he turned down.^[27]

[edit] The Daily Show

In 1999 Stewart began hosting The Daily Show on Comedy Central when Craig Kilborn left the show to replace Tom Snyder on The Late Late Show. The show, which has been popular and successful in cable television since Stewart became the host, blends humor with the day's top news stories, usually in politics, while simultaneously poking fun at politicians and many newsmakers as well as the news media itself. In an interview on The O'Reilly Factor, Stewart denied the show has any intentional political agenda, saying the goal was "schnicks and giggles." "The same weakness that drove me into comedy also informs my show," meaning that he was uncomfortable talking without hearing the audience laugh.^[28]

Stewart has since hosted almost all airings of the program, except for a few occasions when correspondents such as Stephen Colbert, Rob Corddry, and Steve Carell subbed for him. Stewart has won a total of sixteen Emmys for The Daily Show as either a writer or producer.^[8] In 2005 The Daily Show and Jon Stewart received a Best Comedy Album Grammy Award for the audio book edition of America (The Book). In 2000 and 2004, the show won two Peabody Awards for its coverage of the presidential elections relevant to those years, called "Indecision 2000" and "Indecision 2004", respectively.

Stewart interviewing Admiral Michael Mullen during a taping session of The Daily Show

The September 20, 2001, show,^[29] the first show after the attacks of September 11, 2001, began with no introduction.^[30] Before this, the introduction included footage of a fly-in towards the World Trade Center and New York City. The first nine minutes of the show included a tearful Stewart discussing his personal view on the event. His remarks ended as follows:

"The view… from my apartment… was the World Trade Center… and now it's gone, and they attacked it. This symbol of American ingenuity, and strength, and labor, and imagination and commerce, and it is gone. But you know what the view is now? The Statue of Liberty. The view from the South of Manhattan is now the Statue of Liberty. You can't beat that."^[29]

On April 4, 2006, Stewart confronted US Senator John McCain about his decision to appear at Liberty University, an institution founded by Jerry Falwell, whom McCain had previously denounced as one of the "agents of intolerance."^[31][32] In the interchange, Stewart asked McCain, "You're not freaking out on us? Are you freaking out on us, because if you're freaking out and you're going into the crazy base [politics] world—are you going into crazy base world?" McCain replied, "I'm afraid so." The clip was played on CNN and created a surge of articles across the blogosphere.^[33][34]

In 2007 The Daily Show was involved in former correspondent Stephen Colbert's announcement that he would run for president in 2008. In 2008 Stewart appeared on an episode of the show Democracy Now!^[35] A 2008 New York Times story questioned whether he was, in a phrase originally used to describe longtime network news anchor Walter Cronkite, "the most trusted man in America".^[36]

On April 28, 2009, during a discussion on torture with Clifford May, Stewart expressed his opinion that former President Harry S. Truman was a war criminal for his use of the atomic bomb on Japan during World War II.^[37][38][39]Moments later, Stewart defended his assertion:

Here's what I think of the atom bombs. I think if you dropped an atom bomb fifteen miles offshore and you said, "The next one's coming and hitting you," then I would think it's okay. To drop it on a city, and kill a hundred thousand people. Yeah. I think that's criminal.^[37]

On April 30, 2009, Stewart apologized on his program, and stated he did not believe Truman was a war criminal:^[40]

The other night we had on Cliff May. He was on, we were discussing torture, back and forth, very spirited discussion, very enjoyable. And I may have mentioned during the discussion we were having that Harry Truman was a war criminal. And right after saying it, I thought to myself that was dumb. And it was dumb. Stupid in fact. So I shouldn't have said that, and I did. So I say right now, no, I don't believe that to be the case. The atomic bomb, a very complicated decision in the context of a horrific war, and I walk that back because it was in my estimation a stupid thing to say. Which, by the way, as it was coming out of your mouth, you ever do that, where you're saying something, and as it's coming out you're like, "What the fuck, nyah?" And it just sat in there for a couple of days, just sitting going, "No, no, he wasn't, and you should really say that out loud on the show." So I am, right now, and, man, ew. Sorry.^[41]

In April 2010, Comedy Central renewed Stewart's contract to host The Daily Show into 2013.^[42] Stewart is paid a reported $1.5 million for one season of The Daily Show.^[43] According to the Forbes list of Celebrities, he earns $14 million a year.^[44]

On September 16, 2010, Stewart and Stephen Colbert announced a rally for October 30, known as the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. It took place on the National Mall in Washington D.C. and attracted an estimated 215,000 participants.^[45]

In December 2010 Stewart was credited by the White House and other media and political news outlets for bringing awareness of the Republican filibuster on the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act to the public, leading to the ultimate passing of the bill which provides health benefits to first responders whose health has been adversely affected by their work at Ground Zero.^[46]

On the January 10, 2011 show, Stewart began with a monologue about the shootings in Tucson, AZ.^[47] Stewart said that he wished the "ramblings of crazy people didn't in any way resemble how we actually talk to each other on television".^[48] Before commercial break, Stewart told viewers that the show would continue as usual the next night. After commercial break, the show featured a rerun of a field piece done by Jason Jones two years earlier.

As a result of such high-profile political stands, Stewart is being recognized as a political force rather than merely as a comedian. The New York Times suggested that he is "the modern-day equivalent of Edward R. Murrow"^[49] and the UK national newspaper The Independent called him the "satirist-in-chief".^[50]

In the middle of 2002, amid rumors that David Letterman was going to switch from CBS to ABC when his contract ran out, Stewart was rumored as Letterman's replacement on CBS.^[51] Ultimately, Letterman renewed his contract with CBS. On the March 9, 2002, episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Stewart, a "Weekend Update" sketch poked fun at the situation. In the middle of the sketch, "Weekend Update" anchor Jimmy Fallon said that he could not continue doing the broadcast and he brought Stewart in to replace him. Stewart glowed with excitement and chattered to himself about this chance to prove himself on network television. His pep talk went on too long, however, and before Stewart could deliver any headlines, Fallon returned and said he would be able to finish the broadcast himself.

In late 2002, ABC offered Stewart his own talk show to air after Nightline. Stewart's contract with The Daily Show was near expiring and he expressed strong interest. ABC, however, decided to give another Comedy Central figure, Jimmy Kimmel, the post-Nightline slot.^[52]

Books[link]

Stewart at the launch of his book, Earth, in New York, September 27, 2010.

In 1998, Stewart released his first book, Naked Pictures of Famous People, a collection of humorous short stories and essays. The book reached The New York Times Best Seller List.

In 2004 Stewart and The Daily Show writing staff released America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, a mock high school History textbook offering insights into the unique American system of government, dissecting its institutions, explaining its history and processes, and satirizing such popular American political precepts as "one man, one vote", "government by the people," and "every vote counts." The book sold millions of copies upon its 2004 release and ended the year as a top fifteen best-seller.^[11]

In 2005 Stewart provided the voice of President James A. Garfield for the audiobook version of Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation.

In 2007 Stewart voiced a role on Stephen Colbert's audiobook version of I Am America (And So Can You!). He plays Mort Sinclaire, former TV comedy writer and Communist.

On September 21, 2010, Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race, written by Stewart and other writers of The Daily Show, was released.

Acting[link]

Although best known for his work on The Daily Show, Stewart has had roles in several films and television series.

His first film role was a minor part in The First Wives Club but his scene was deleted.^[53] In 1995 Stewart signed a three-year deal with Miramax.^[54] He played romantic leads in the films Playing by Heart and Wishful Thinking. He had a supporting role in the romantic comedy Since You've Been Gone and in the horror film The Faculty. Other films were planned for Stewart to write and star in, but they were never produced. Stewart has since maintained a relationship with Miramax founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein and continues to appear in films they have produced including Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Doogal and the documentary Wordplay.

He appeared in Half Baked as an "enhancement smoker" and in Big Daddy as Adam Sandler's roommate; he has joked on the Daily Show and in the documentary The Aristocrats that to get the role he slept with Sandler. Stewart often makes fun of his appearances in the high-profile flop Death to Smoochy,^[55] in which he played a treacherous television executive, and the animated film Doogal,^[56] where he played a blue spring named Zeebad who shot a freeze ray from his mustache. In 2007 Stewart made a cameo appearance as himself in Evan Almighty, which starred former Daily Show correspondent Steve Carell. In the movie Stewart was seen on a television screen in a fictional Daily Show episode poking fun at Carell's character for building an ark.

Stewart had a recurring role in The Larry Sanders Show, playing himself as an occasional substitute and possible successor to late-night talk show host Larry Sanders (played by Garry Shandling). In 1998 Stewart hosted the television special, Elmopalooza, celebrating 30 years of Sesame Street. He has guest-starred on other sitcoms including The Nanny, Dr Katz, Professional Therapist, Spin City, NewsRadio, American Dad, and The Simpsons. He has made guest-appearances on the children's television series Between the Lions, Sesame Street and Jack's Big Music Show.

Producing[link]

In the mid-1990s Stewart launched his own production company, Busboy Productions. The name of the company is a reference to Stewart's previous job as a busboy. The company's production logo features the sound of a glass being knocked over followed by a voice whispering "Oops. Sorry." Stewart signed a deal with Miramax to develop projects through his company, but none of his ideas has been produced to date. After Stewart's success as host and producer of The Daily Show, he revived Busboy Productions with Daily Show producers Ben Karlin and Rich Korson. In 2002 Busboy planned to produce a sitcom for NBC starring Stephen Colbert, but the show did not come to fruition.^[57]

In 2005 Comedy Central reached an agreement with Busboy in which Comedy Central would provide financial backing for the production company. Comedy Central has a first-look agreement on all projects, after which Busboy is free to shop them to other networks.^[58][59] The deal spawned the Daily Show spin-off The Colbert Report. Other projects include the sitcom pilot Three Strikes, the documentary Sportsfan, the series Important Things with Demetri Martin, and the film The Donor.

In March 2010 Stewart announced that he had optioned rights to the story of journalist Maziar Bahari, who was imprisoned in Iran for 118 days.^[60] On the June 6, 2011 episode of The Daily Show, Stewart again hosted Bahari and confirmed that the two would be collaborating on the project.^[61]

Awards show hosting[link]

Stewart has hosted the Grammy Awards twice, in 2001 and in 2002. In the middle of the 2001 broadcast, after laying a number of comedic duds, Stewart did what he encourages most public officials to do: he recognized his lackluster performance, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, I just want to say I feel your scorn and accept it." When Stewart returned to host the next year, his comedy was more successful. Joking about the performance of the song "Lady Marmalade", he said, "Our next performance is from the movie Moulin Rouge!, a film about a time when the whorehouses were about the music!" When the award winners for Album of the Year walked up on stage, many in number, Stewart quipped, "I don't know what you may have heard, but you were only supposed to go on stage if you worked on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, not if you heard it."

On January 5, 2006, Stewart was officially announced as the host of the 78th Academy Awards, which were held March 5 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Responding to press questions at the time of his selection, Stewart remarked: "As a performer, I'm truly honored to be hosting the show. Although, as an avid watcher of the Oscars, I can't help but be a little disappointed with the choice. It appears to be another sad attempt to smoke out Billy Crystal."^[62] (According to The New York Times, Oscar producer Gilbert Cates knew that Crystal was going to be performing 700 Sundays during the time period and was not able to host.) On the Monday before the Oscars, Stewart told Larry King that he was more "excited" than nervous about the job and joked that if he turned out a failure, he could be "bumped down to public access". When asked what the opening would be, the comedian chastised himself by comparing a Stewart opening to a "Gene Rayburn homage". Instead, the opening segment, preceding Stewart's monologue, featured several recent hosts "declining" to host the show.

Critical response to Stewart's performance was mixed. Roger Ebert compared him favorably to legendary Oscar host Johnny Carson.^[63] Other reviewers were less positive; Tom Shales of The Washington Post said that Stewart hosted with “smug humorlessness.” James Poniewozik of Time said that Stewart was a bad host, but a great “anti-host” in that he poked fun at parts of the broadcast that deserved it, which lent him a degree of authenticity with the non-Hollywood audience.^[64] Stewart and correspondent John Oliver later poked fun at his lackluster reception on The Daily Show's coverage of the 79th Academy Awards by saying that the "demon of last year's Oscars had finally been exorcised."

Stewart also hosted the 80th Academy Awards on February 24, 2008. Reception that time, however, was far more positive.

Criticism of journalists[link]

[edit] Crossfire appearance

In a televised exchange with then-CNN personality Tucker Carlson on Crossfire on October 15, 2004, Stewart criticized the state of television journalism and pleaded with the show's hosts to "stop hurting America," and referred to both Carlson and co-host Paul Begala as "partisan hacks."^[65] When posted on the internet, this exchange became widely viewed and was a topic of much media discussion.

Despite being on the program to comment on current events, Stewart immediately shifted the discussion toward the show itself, asserting that Crossfire had failed in its responsibility to inform and educate viewers about politics as a serious topic. Stewart stated that the show engaged in partisan hackery instead of honest debate, and said that the hosts' assertion that Crossfire is a debate show is like "saying pro wrestling is a show about athletic competition." Carlson responded by saying that Stewart criticizes news organizations for not holding public officials accountable, but when he interviewed John Kerry, Stewart asked a series of "softball" questions (Stewart has acknowledged he voted for Kerry in the 2004 presidential election).^[66] Stewart responded that he didn't realize "the news organizations look to Comedy Central for their cues on integrity."^[67] When Carlson continued to press Stewart on the Kerry issue, Stewart said, "You're on CNN! The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls! What is wrong with you?" In response to prods from Carlson, "Come on. Be funny," Stewart said, "No, I'm not going to be your monkey." Later in the show when Carlson jibed, "I do think you're more fun on your show," Stewart retorted, "You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show."^[10] In response to Stewart's criticisms, Carlson said, "You need to teach at a journalism school," to which Stewart responded, "You need to go to one!"

Stewart discussed the incident on The Daily Show the following Monday:

We decided to go to this place, Crossfire, which is a nuanced public policy analysis show… named after the stray bullets that hit innocent bystanders in a gang fight. So I go to Crossfire and, let's face it, I was dehydrated, it's the Martin Lawrence defense… and I had always in the past mentioned to friends and people that I meet on the street that I think that show… um… blows. So I thought it was only the right thing to do to go say it to them personally on their program, but here's the thing about confronting someone with that on their show: They're there! Uncomfortable! And they were very mad, because apparently, when you invite someone on a show called Crossfire and you express an opinion, they don't care for that… I told them that I felt their show was hurting America and they came back at me pretty good, they said that I wasn't being funny. And I said to them, "I know that, but tomorrow I will go back to being funny, and your show will still blow."^[9][68]

In January 2005 CNN announced that it was canceling Crossfire. When asked about the cancellations, CNN/US' incoming president, Jonathan Klein, referenced Stewart's appearance on the show: "I think he made a good point about the noise level of these types of shows, which does nothing to illuminate the issues of the day."^[69] Soon after, Stewart quipped on The Daily Show that "I fought the law, and the law lost!"^{[citation needed]}

When asked about his relationship with Tucker Carlson on CNN's Larry King Live in February 2008, Stewart said: "It became this idea that it was personal between the two of us, and it wasn't… If there's one thing I regret about that thing, it was probably the idea that it was personal, that there was something I was saying about Tucker to Tucker, but actually it was about the show."

On March 18, 2009, Carlson wrote a blog entry for The Daily Beast criticizing Stewart for his handling of the CNBC controversy (see below). Carlson discussed the CNN incident and claimed that Stewart remained backstage for at least "an hour" and "continued to lecture our staff", something Carlson described as "one of the weirdest things I have ever seen."^[70]

Criticism of CNBC[link]

Stewart again became a viral internet phenomenon following a March 4, 2009, The Daily Show sequence. CNBC cancelled Rick Santelli's scheduled appearance but Stewart still ran a short segment showing CNBC giving bad investment advice.^[71]

Subsequent media coverage of exchanges between Jim Cramer, who had been featured heavily in the original segment, and Stewart, led to a highly anticipated face-to-face confrontation on The Daily Show.^[72] The episode received much media attention and became the second most-viewed episode of The Daily Show, trailing only the 2009 Inauguration Day episode. It had 2.3 million total viewers, and the next day, the show's website saw its highest day of traffic in 2009.^[73] Although Cramer acknowledged on the show that some of Stewart's criticisms of CNBC were valid and that the network could "do better," he later said on The Today Show that Stewart's criticism of the media was "naïve and misleading."^[74]

Criticism of Fox News[link]

For years Stewart has accused Fox News of distorting the news to fit a conservative agenda, at one point ridiculing the network as "the meanest sorority in the world."^[75] In November 2009 Stewart called out Fox News for using some footage from a previous Tea Party rally during its report of a more recent one, making the later rally appear larger than it was. The show's anchor, Sean Hannity, apologized the following night.^[76] A month later, Stewart criticized Fox & Friends cohost Gretchen Carlson – a former Miss America and Stanford graduate – for claiming that she googled words such as "ignoramus" and "czar." Stewart said that Carlson was dumbing herself down for "an audience who sees intellect as an elitist flaw."^[77]

Stewart stepped up his criticism of Fox News in 2010; as of April 24, The Daily Show had 24 segments criticizing Fox News' coverage.^[42] Bill O'Reilly, host of The O'Reilly Factor, countered that The Daily Show was a "key component of left-wing television" and that Stewart was a fan of Fox News because the network was so interesting to watch.^[42]

WGA strike of 2007–2008[link]

Stewart was an important factor in the unionization of the Comedy Central writers. The Daily Show writers were the first of Comedy Central's writers to be able to join the guild, after which other shows followed.^[78][79]

Stewart supported the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, commenting on The Daily Show episode just before the strike in a sarcastic manner about how Comedy Central had made available all of the episodes for free on their website, but without advertising, and said 'go support our advertisers'. The show went on hiatus when the strike began, as did other late night talk shows. Upon Stewart's return to the show on January 7, 2008, he refused to use the title The Daily Show, stating that "The Daily Show" was the show made with all of the people responsible for the broadcast, including his writers. During the strike, he referred to his show as A Daily Show with Jon Stewart until the strike ended on February 13, 2008.^[80] Stewart, as well as several other late night talk shows, returned to TV early in January even though the strike was not over, because their stage crews and production teams were suffering much more than the writers from the financial crunch, and by that point had been out of work for two months.^{[citation needed]}

The Writers Guild Strike of 2007–2008 was also responsible for a notable mock feud between Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Conan O'Brien in early 2008. Without writers to help fuel their banter, the three comedians concocted a crossover/rivalry in order to garner more viewers during the ratings slump. Colbert made the claim that because of "the Colbert bump", he was responsible for Mike Huckabee's success in the 2008 presidential race. O'Brien claimed that he was responsible for Huckabee's success because not only had he mentioned Huckabee on his show, but also that he was responsible for Chuck Norris' success (Norris backed Huckabee). In response, Stewart claimed that he was responsible for the success of O'Brien, since Stewart had featured him on The Jon Stewart Show, and in turn the success of Huckabee. This resulted in a three-part comedic battle between the three pundits, with all three appearing on each other's shows. The feud ended on Late Night with Conan O'Brien with a mock brawl involving the three hosts.^[81]