When it come to current events, the most informative hour on television is the slot occupied NewsHour on PBS. This is a full hour devoted to the news that is nearly commercial free. It is an excellent news broadcast, but for a generation used to infotainment, that can seem rather dry.

The second most informative hour is, arguably, the hour occupied by The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. People shake their heads with a “tsk, tsk” when they are told that many in the younger generation get most of their news from The Daily Show, and it is a problem if this is the only source, but I daresay that an analysis of the content in the flagship news broadcasts on any network and that on The Daily Show would reveal that on many nights as much or more of the Daily Show is devoted to serious, important, timely topics than is the network news, particularly on those days when the guest is not an entertainer. Certainly the Daily show often provides more context, albeit through humor.

Such was the case last night with Presidents Obama’s Oval Office speech about the crisis in the Gulf. The President repeated his call to reduce the nation’s consumption of fossil fuels in that speech, but the Daily Show demonstrated our remarkable incapacity as a nation to follow through on that. Every President since Nixon has repeated that call. Ironically it was also Nixon who was most successful in pushing environmental legislation through Congress. It should serve as a reproach to us all. One crisis after another, and yet we never learn.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Day 58 – The Strife Aquatic
www.thedailyshow.com
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It often seems that The Daily Show has researchers, and the network news doesn’t. Network news relies far too heavily on pundits who tend to reproduce rhetoric and talking points, and never does the kind of research necessary for the serious version of a report like this.

The Colbert Report is much more about rhetoric. It picks apart the claims of politicians by pointing out their contradictions. It’s writers are clever and sophisticated in their use of irony and word play. Here’s “The Word” from last night. It’s not one of the best, but it gives you an idea.

The Colbert Report	Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word – $tay the Cour$e
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

It’s damned impressive what these shows do, and it’s valuable source of information.