Vanity Fair is out with its new list of power brokers (“The Vanity Fair 100 Leaders of the Information Age”), and Stephen once again makes the grade. In fact, he’s made huge strides in his ranking from where he stood even last year (at #87) to his current position (at #45).
From Vanity Fair:
The Colbert Report
Stephen Colbert
2008: 045
SPHERE OF INFLUENCE: There’s no denying the growing stature of his 30-minute faux evening talk show. This year he asked Hillary Clinton for audio/video-technician tips, and queried Michelle Obama on how “hope” and “change” fit into the Obama household discussions (as in “I hope that you will change the cat litter”). According to one study, the “Colbert Bump”—originally a self-deprecating gag—actually exists. After Democrats appeared on The Colbert Report, they saw a fund-raising jump of 44 percent the following month. Even Republican Mike Huckabee tripled his approval numbers when he went on the show.
STAB AT IMMORTALITY: The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery hung an oil rendering of Colbert striking three poses near the American Presidents collection—between doors to the men’s and women’s bathrooms.
HOW HE ROLLS: The 44-year-old eschews company-paid car service in favor of driving himself every night from Comedy Central’s set in New York City to his home, in Montclair, New Jersey.
. . .
For those of you interested in the placement of the man Stephen has referred to as his “warm-up act”, Jon Stewart‘s entry can be found here. Jon’s rise in the rankings is even more meteoric than Stephen’s; he went from #89 last year to #44 this year!
Nicely done, boys!
Jon’s picture looks like it’s on currency.
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I wouldn’t have been nearly as excited to read that article if it weren’t for the picture…that’s definitely an attention grabber *grins*. Awesome to read, though!
(My reCAPTCHA says “Evelyn!”)
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Maybe it’s just me, but I always find these kinds of stories hailing the “new” rise of TDS in stature as intensely belated. As far as I’m concerned, TDS has been a prominent news source since I was a freshman in college seven years ago. Jon Stewart was as ubiquitous in UF’s dorm common rooms as empty Gumby’s pizza boxes.
Mmm Pokey Stix Tuesday flashbacks…
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To be fair, I think the person you want to criticize is me, not Vanity Fair. The magazine does the list annually, and it’s just called “100 Leaders of the Information Age”, so the “new” label isn’t really theirs. I think I was the one who used the “new” adjective above.
Of course, I don’t exactly think The Daily Show‘s rise is “new”, either, you understand … :)
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