We’ve covered Jon Stewart quite a lot over the years—mostly because of his run as host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, which comes to a close on Thursday night, while keeping in mind his wonderfully Jewy given name, Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz. And, after 16 inspired years as a “fake” anchor, Stewart has deserved the attention: night after night he has trashed the messaging of network and cable news products, pricking at their methods with the sharp needle of media satire.
His delivery, backed by some incredible writing and interview rangling, proliferated the genre of “fake news,” and launched into superstardom (with the help of the Internet) the careers of a number of comedians who themselves went on to host their own Jon Stewart-esque shows, including Larry Wilmore, Stephen Colbert and John Oliver.