When Jay Leno talks, 6.3 million people listen.

So it’s not surprising when Leno talks politics, his viewers, accordingly, pay attention.

The former stand-up comedian sprinkles political jokes throughout his opening monologue on “The Tonight Show,” the most popular late-night television show. Upon hearing last week Joseph Lieberman’s presidential campaign was picking up momentum, Leno said that “tends to happen when you’re rolling downhill.”

When President George W. Bush announced astronauts needed to feel and touch things in outer space, Leno asked: “Do you know who told him that? Governor Schwarzenegger.”

After Carol Moseley Braun dropped from the nine-person Democratic presidential race, Leno quipped that Dennis Kucinich then had a firm grasp of last place, and added: “I don’t want to say Dennis Kucinich is doing poorly, but they are already calling him the ‘Iowa carcass.’ “

It’s caucus, not carcass.

It’s a play on words. A political jab. A funny joke, right?

Sure, but a recent study reports that Americans, especially those between 18 and 29, do more than just laugh during comedy and late-night television shows: they also learn. The two non-traditional news sources draw more people under 30 than network news, local news or daily newspapers.

“They’re able to put a fun spin on what’s important and what’s going on,” said Matt Kulp, a junior speech major and a member on student government. “It’s kind of like we never get the information because they make fun of it, but we have fun while getting that information.”

Some 61 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 29 regularly or sometimes learn about the Democratic presidential campaign from shows like Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” or “Saturday Night Live,” according to a Pew Research Center study released last week. More than a quarter of that same age bracket reported learning something new.

Therein lies a potential problem: the opinions voiced by these comedians, unlike network television or newspapers, aren’t held to the same accuracy and objectivity standards. The shows have a slanted view sometimes far from the reality.

“If you’re young, old, anybody, if you get all your information from one source … that’s a bad thing,” said Robert Thompson, a professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University. “You can use the Farmer’s Almanac to predict the weather, but to be accurate you should read the newspapers as well.”

These shows parody the truth, but inaccuracies develop if the parody becomes the source of truth. They bank on viewers having a prerequisite knowledge of the candidates and their stances.

“Very often we try to react to what people already know. We’re not trying to educate,” said Stewart Bailey, co-executive of The Daily Show, a show on Comedy Central popular with college students that draws a viewership around one million. “First and foremost we have to find something funny.”

User friendliness, facts lead to popularity

Thompson suggests two reasons why young voters turn to comedy and late-night television, as evident by Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show, featured on the cover of Newsweek.

First, a certain user friendliness comes with the comedy shows that does not come with network news or newspapers. Viewers turn in to be amused, not to be informed. An hour of “Conan O’Brien is easier to watch than an hour of the Democratic presidential debates,” said Thompson, who has appeared on Dateline and 60 Minutes to talk about television trends.

The most recognizable faces on television, Thompson said, aren’t Dan Rather or Peter Jennings, but rather Jay Leno and David Letterman.

“We know these characters in a very different way than newscasters,” said Thompson, who has written five books on television. “They can be more open and candid than all the rest.”

Adds Bailey: “Obviously, Tom Brokaw doesn’t try to get laughs.”

The other reason revolves around the ability to bend the journalistic rules of objectivity and truth, meaning late-night comedy shows can discuss rumors as if they’re facts. Thompson used former Pres. Bill Clinton’s sex scandal as an example of the time gap.

“They’re out to be the most famous, get the highest rating, and they’ll say anything that does that,” Pete Voelz, a professor here who teaches journalism ethics. “I don’t think they even know the impact they have, especially on young people drawing them away from like serious news.”

The Daily Show a hybrid show

Stewart, an occasional actor who has appeared in numerous Adam Sandler movies, was listed on Monday as the most influential media member for the 2004 Presidential Campaign, according to a Newsday poll of journalists, analysts and experts. That position stems from The Daily Show’s blend of comedy and hard news.

The show has been applauded for interviewing eight of the nine Democratic Presidential candidates. Only Sen. John Kerry has not been on The Daily Show. The show, more than anything, reveals hypocrisies of public figures by finding contradicting statements, Bailey said.

“Jon Stewart has more journalistic integrity in his left arm than the entire staffs of CNN or Fox News Channel,” said George Lesica, a junior political science major and Speaker of the Senate of Student Government.

Bailey said each staff member’s computers has the Associated Press wire service on them and they stay updated on current events.

“Actually our operation looks and is structured very similarly to an actual news bureau,” Bailey, a worker at The Daily Show for more than seven years, said. “We patterned our work day in the same way they do, with headline meetings, etc. It’s just that truth and fact checking we don’t really get into. Apart from that, we’re very similar.”

On a Thursday night episode, the show begins with Stewart sitting at his desk. A couple of lounge chairs reside to his right. The set-up is more Jay Leno than CNN, but a world globe hangs in the background, an aesthetic used by some news channels.

Stewart first comments on Moseley Braun’s decision to drop out. The previous night she had appeared on The Daily Show.

“She’s explaining to me why she should be the next president of the United States. I get home that night, check the Internet, and she dropped out of the race,” Stewart said. “My guess is this whole presidential run was a ruse to get on this program. (Al) Gore did the same thing.”

But the show’s versatility takes form after the first commercial break, when Joe Biden, a U.S. senator from Delaware, takes the interview seat. The two talk about Biden’s trips to Iraq, one before and after the Iraqi conflict, and how the Iowa caucus is a test measuring a candidate’s electability.

Positive effects of Late-night comedies

Thompson calls the show an important political voice suggesting more cable and network news stations follow some of The Daily Show’s methods. These shows can be advantageous in the introductory stage.

In the early 1990s, former Pres. George W. H. Bush created a push for volunteerism with a plan called The 1,000 Points of Light.

“Nobody probably heard much of this speech or idea,” Thompson said.

Then Dana Carvey parodied the president, using the volunteer plan as fodder for a Saturday Night Live skit. Carvey did a dead-on impression, even performing once in the White House.

The public learned more about that particular through Carvey than Bush, Thompson said.

“These late-night comedies are giving very elementary introduction lessons to a lot of people,” Thompson said. “If you can get those lessons nowhere else, I guess it’s better to get it than not to get it at all.

“If then they feel informed and feel like they know enough to exercise the franchise of voting because of late-night comedy, that’s probably not a good thing.”