Jon Stewart

Jonathan "Jon" Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz on November 28, 1962) is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor and stand-up comedian. He is best known as the host of The Daily Show, a satirical news program airing on Comedy Central.

Stewart started as a stand-up comedian but later branched out to television, hosting Short Attention Span Theater for Comedy Central. He went on to host his own show on MTV, called The Jon Stewart Show, and then hosted another show on MTV called You Wrote It, You Watch It. He has also had several film roles as an actor. Stewart became the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central in early 1999. He is also a writer and co-producer of the show. After Stewart joined, The Daily Show steadily gained popularity and critical acclaim leading to his first Emmy Award in 2001.

Stewart himself has also gained significant acclaim among some viewers as an acerbic satirical critic of the Bush administration and of personality-driven media shows, in particular the coverage of the U.S. news media networks CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. Critics say Stewart benefits from a double standard: he critiques other news shows from the safe, removed position of his "fake news" desk. Stewart himself agrees, countering that neither his show nor his channel purports to be anything other than satire and comedy. In spite of its self-professed entertainment mandate, The Daily Show has been nominated for a number of news and journalism awards. Stewart hosted the 78th Academy Awards and the 80th Academy Awards. He is the co-author of America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, which was one of the best-selling books in the U.S in 2004