Following the passing of Walter Cronkite, Time thought it would be a good idea to do an online poll of Americans, asking "Who is the country's most trusted newscaster?"The winner? Jon Stewart of The Daily Show, with 44% of a four-way vote.
While this doesn't say much about Jon Stewart, it says quite a bit about the sad state of American journalism. There's something very wrong when a comedian can elicit more trust from our society than the very people who provide us with global information on a daily basis. But is Jon Stewart even trustworthy, or just more trustworthy than the figureheads of the prominent news networks?
This poll shows our continuing desire for alternative news sources. The last election, more so than any in recent memory, allowed citizens to strongly challenge network biases and hold them accountable, mostly due to continuing increases in internet usage - providing exponentially more sources than just the Big Four news networks. The entire Ron Paul movement began online, despite networks such as Fox choosing to not even recognize him as a candidate on numerous occasions. We are going to see a lot more of these "cyber-movements" and alterna-news outlets separate from the mainstream media, as public interest in the search for truth blossoms.
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