Jon Stewart on Cable News: ‘Watching These Channels All Day Is Incredibly Depressing’

By Mark Joyella 

In his most extensive interview since announcing his decision to retire from Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” later this year, Jon Stewart explained, “It’s not like I thought the show wasn’t working any more, or that I didn’t know how to do it. It was more, ‘Yup, it’s working. But I’m not getting the same satisfaction.’”

Stewart told The Guardian he was not energized by the prospect of covering another election, and found the daily task of watching Fox News, CNN and MSNBC increasingly unpleasant:

“Watching these channels all day is incredibly depressing,” says Stewart. “I live in a constant state of depression. I think of us as turd miners. I put on my helmet, I go and mine turds, hopefully I don’t get turd lung disease.”

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Asked pointedly if he could imagine watching Fox News after leaving “The Daily Show,” Stewart joked:

“Let’s say that it’s a nuclear winter, and I have been wandering, and there appears to be a flickering light through what appears to be a radioactive cloud and I think that light might be a food source that could help my family. I might glance at it for a moment until I realise, that’s Fox News, and then I shut it off. That’s the circumstance.”

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