Jon Stewart has transformed the world of fake news like no one else. That may not seem like such an achievement. After all, it’s fake news. Kind of like reaching a Middle East peace settlement in a high school Model U.N. Club.

But don’t discount Stewart’s achievements. Even in the world of fake news, Stewart has achieved something profoundly important. In his six years at ‘The Daily Show,’ Stewart has raised political awareness among a younger generation, revolutionized both fake news and political satire and become one of the most influential voices among politically astute college students.

On Saturday, Stewart will speak at the Rochester Institute of Technology for the Brick City Homecoming Weekend in the Gordon Field House at 8 p.m. The event is sold out. Because no tickets are available, Stewart’s publicist, Matt LaBov, denied a request for an interview with Stewart.

Still, Stewart’s influence is easy to trace.

‘You’re asking me to comment on my boss in a public setting,’ ‘Daily Show’ correspondent Ed Helms said, ‘so with that in mind, Jon is the most wonderful, benevolent, brilliant human being I know, and nothing short of a human treasure.’

Helms’ description, though facetious, is shared by most of Stewart’s audience, remarkably high for a cable show.

Just how big is Stewart’s influence? Though it’s relegated to cable, ‘The Daily Show’ drew close to 1.1 million viewers per night last year during the election campaign. After the Sept. 30 presidential debate, 2.4 million viewers tuned in to Stewart’s live broadcast.

This year, Stewart’s show won two Emmy Awards, and the show’s book, ‘America,’ won a Grammy for best comedy album of the year.

In 2004, ‘The Daily Show’ entered new territory, winning the Television Critics Award for Outstanding Achievement in News and Information, beating out more traditional news shows.

Critics contend the show influences its viewers, and they criticize it for not exuding enough journalistic responsibility.

Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, for one, called Stewart’s viewers ‘stoned slackers’ during the presidential campaign, and said it was scary that Stewart would actually influence the presidential election.

Two weeks later, a study showed ‘The Daily Show’ viewers were more likely than viewers of ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ to have completed four years of college. A different survey showed ‘The Daily Show’ viewers were more likely than viewers of other late-night talk shows to know the election issues.

Soon after, Stewart went on the former CNN show ‘Crossfire’ and, in one of the most downloaded clips on the Internet, berated co-host Tucker Carlson for failing to hold politicians responsible.

During one pointed exchange, Carlson said sarcastically, ‘You need to get a job at a journalism school, I think,’ to which Stewart retorted, ‘You need to go to one.’

It might come as a surprise that a former actor in the movie ‘Half-Baked’ is making incisive political statements and ripping professional commentators. But that’s the beauty of Stewart. Even broadcasting within a comedic sphere, ‘The Daily Show’ offers something very serious.

‘The Daily Show’ has attracted everyone from Michael Moore to John Kerry on the left and Bill O’Reilly to Rick Santorum on the right. Democrat John Edwards even announced his presidential candidacy on Stewart’s show, to which Stewart responded, ‘We’re a fake show, so I want you to know that this may not count.’

This isn’t how the show has always been. When the show was first hosted by Craig Kilborn in 1996, it worked like a standard late-night talk show, delivering softer jokes in the style of ‘Saturday Night Live’s’ Weekend Update. Stewart’s vision for the show was different, focusing more on headlines, delving deeper into stories and exposing politicians’ hypocrisy rather than delivering a witty one-liner.

‘Jon has a very conscientious eye for what works,’ said ‘Daily Show’ co-executive producer Stewart Bailey. ‘Our style here is to dig into a story. It’s more how do we feel about a story and how do we make it funny.

‘Some of it smells like journalism. We are using real information. So in that sense it’s not the opposite of journalism,’ he added.

In fact, Stewart may do a better job informing his audience than some believe.

Indeed, Stewart thrives where real journalists falter. In their undying campaign to remain objective, news programs spiral into partisan hackery, oftentimes pinning one side against the other when each side may not deserve equal footing. Fearing they’ll be seen as biased, journalists allow interview subjects to spin facts without being held responsible. (For example, the recent debate on evolution vs. intelligent design.)

Anchoring a fake news program, Stewart’s advantage is it doesn’t have to attach itself to any modern-day journalistic standard. How the news media has interpreted objectivity isn’t followed on ‘The Daily Show.’ What’s left is a slice through all the spin and a picture of the deceit.

‘If reporters are going to be hung up on objectivity,’ says Marc Maron, a comedian and talk show host on Air America Radio, ‘but all they do is rehearse the same B.S., I don’t know how much of a service that is.’

Said Helms: ‘I’ve heard Jon describe the show as anti-bullshit, so I’ll go with that, too.’

Journalists have come to Stewart’s defense, too.

‘He’s an entertainer,’ says Mike Malloy, a former writer for CNN and current host of ‘The Mike Malloy Show’ on Air America Radio. ‘It’s an unfair burden to put on entertainers to say they have a responsibility to do journalism. Jon Stewart is not a journalist. Their parody of journalism does more of a service than anything.’

While others bicker about his role and influence, Stewart will continue to mock those in power. And as his popularity continues to grow, Stewart will continue to be one of the most trusted names in fake news.

Said Helms: ‘Jon’s the one whose name is on the show. He has to sit there every night and make it work. We’re all riding piggyback. We get our bubble on the side. Jon deserves more than the lion’s share of the credit for the success of the show.’

If You Go:

What: Jon Stewart

When: Saturday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m.

Where: Gordon Field House, the Rochester Institute of Technology

Cost: Sold out

Published on October 6, 2005 at 12:00 pm