In late 2010, Jon Stewart attracted considerable news media attention by organizing the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear and, later, pressuring lawmakers to pass legislation providing health care to 9/11 responders. The events renewed an interpretive struggle surrounding Stewart in which journalists understood his activity as signaling a shift in his cultural role. Using the concept of boundary maintenance to qualitatively analyze journalists' interpretations, this study connects journalistic discourse surrounding Stewart to questions of epistemic authority, the role of earnestness in public discourse, and the responsibility of discursive agents. These evaluations of Stewart illuminate the contestation of appropriate norms and practices within the mediated public sphere during an era of complex cultural, economic, and technological change.

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This study explores how exposure to news parody commentary and perceived news media importance (PNMI) can influence trust in the press. A two-wave experiment ( N = 331) exposed participants to news parody stimuli, measuring different facets of media trust and PNMI 1 week before and immediately after the parody exposure. Results demonstrate mediated processes of influence, wherein parody’s implicit commentary about the press (compared to explicit, negative criticism of the news media) promotes greater PNMI, which in turn fosters increased trust in the press. This research ultimately highlights how news parody’s flattering imitations can enhance perceptions of the news media.

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