According to a new study from the Annenberg Public Policy Center, Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report is more effective at teaching people about current events and political issues like Super PACs than any other major news show. The “Stephen Colbert’s Civics Lesson” study, which consisted of a survey of more than 1,200 adults, found that Colbert’s satirical persona, who went as far as creating an actual Super PAC to educate viewers about campaign financing, is better at actually informing viewers than cable or radio shows. The study’s lead author wrote, “Colbert did better than any other news source at teaching. There were two reasons. First was the narrative structure. He walked us through creating a super PAC and every episode was a continuation of that story. And second was the use of humor and satire.” And, unlike most cable news shoutfests, Colbert is intentionally funny and doesn’t trigger migraine headaches in viewers …
