And even if you don't agree with me that those three men are the sharpest wits around, by shutting out their chosen medium you are purposely locking yourself away from some of the most influential dialogue going on in the country. In 2010, a Pew poll found that of Americans aged 18-49, Colbert claimed 80 percent of the television news market and Stewart 74 percent. Again, when you look at the huge number of people still getting their news from television, that means that well over the majority of the Americans who will shape the future of the country are listening to those men.
That's really the crux of the problem. When someone says, "I don't watch television," they are essentially saying that they are excluding themselves out of a medium just because it's that particular medium. And that is madness. 50 Shades of Grey and The Secret didn't make me want to stop reading books, just those books.
I understand that reality TV continues unabated, and that the news channels are full of partisan punditry that is more confusing than enlightening, and that the History Channel lost its damned mind several years ago after running out of Hitler's stuff. I get that most of our pop culture like our Kardashians and every vapid Disney pop princess program finds its home on TV.
However, serialized drama has literally never been better. Game of Thrones, Orphan Black, and Hannibal to name just a few. And thanks to my TV provider, I can stream independent movies the same time they are in the theaters. It's the only way I was ever going to Beasts of the Southern Wild or Moonrise Kingdom. It's not exactly the fare I was going to be able to take my four-year-old daughter to see.
Somehow, despite all predictions to the contrary, television has found a way to grow and thrive at a time when everyone told me it was going to be obsolete. It's become more relevant than ever, and by contrast the people who insist that they never touch the stuff are edging away from relevance themselves.
Jef has a new story, a tale of headless strippers and The Rolling Stones, available now in Broken Mirrors, Fractured Minds. You can also connect with him on Facebook.
