News

Comedian Jon Stewart is a funny man, but that's not the only reason so many fans turn to The Daily Show for their news. He also has facts to back up his merciless skewering of politicians and parties. The guy who comes up with most of that research is a 37-year-old named Adam Chodikoff, who was profiled in the latest issue of Women's Wear Daily magazine.

It's Chodikoff's job to come up with those video clips that contradict what the guests in the hot seat are saying, or the details of a motion in the House that they claim to have supported but actually opposed. What's interesting is that despite the popular acclaim of The Daily Show, and the fact that video clips from the program are swapped on the Internet almost as soon as the show is over, Chodikoff says he has little or no interest in reading Google searches, Wikipedia entries, blog posts or anything like that when it comes to doing research.

Explaining why he prefers print over the Web, he cites a scene from the movie Back to School, when Rodney Dangerfield asks his son why he's buying used books. "He says, 'Because they're already underlined, see?' And Rodney says, 'But that guy could have been a maniac.' And that's the problem with the Internet."

Instead of relying on Web sources, Chodikoff watches C-SPAN, reads the transcripts from White House press conferences and briefings, calls the Joint Committee on Taxation when he has a question and otherwise engages in hard-nosed, reporterly research. He just happens to do it in the service of humour rather than outright journalism - which is a good thing, given how large a proportion of young TV viewers say they rely on The Daily Show for their news.

For more details and links, please see the Ingram 2.0 blog at globetechnology.com.