Glenn Beck Viewers Smarter than Daily Show Viewers

Louis Jacobson at Politifact debunks Jon Stewart's claim that Fox News viewers are the "most consistently misinformed media viewers." This nugget from a 2010 Pew survey must be particularly embarrassing for Stewart:

Fox actually scored better than its two direct cable-news rivals — MSNBC, which is a liberal counterpoint to Fox, and CNN, which is considered more middle-of-the-road. Also scoring lower than Fox were local television news, the evening network news shows and the network morning shows.

And for the third time, particular Fox shows scored well. Hannity ranked fifth (just ahead of MSNBC’s liberal shows hosted by Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow) and O’Reilly ranked ninth. For the first time, Pew included Glenn Beck in its rankings, and the Fox host finished 12th — slightly ahead of Stewart’s own Daily Show.

I think Stewart is a pretty funny comedian, but he does want to be more than just a comedian. Many of his adoring fans see him as the only "real journalist" in America--the "heir to the Cronkite legacy." If Stewart wants to be a journalist who speaks truth to power, it's worth pointing out the times when he egregiously misinforms his viewers.