--- description: Colbert is more informative than journalists, per a study by The Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. title: Study Finds "The Colbert Report" Is More Informative Than Real News Channels image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Study Finds Watching _The Colbert Report_ Is More Informative Than Watching The News  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jun 4, 2014 1:00 PM CUT  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jun 4, 2014 1:00 PM CUT [**The Colbert Report**](http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/ "undefined") Get More: [Daily Show Full Episodes](http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/full-episodes/ "undefined"),[Indecision Political Humor](http://www.comedycentral.com/indecision "undefined"),[The Colbert Report on Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/thecolbertreport "undefined") Good news for Colbert Nation: People who watched _The Colbert Report_ during the last presidential election are more informed about campaign financing than people who watched other news channels, according to a study by the [Annenberg Public Policy Center](http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/stephen-colberts-civics-lesson-or-how-a-tv-humorist-taught-america-about-campaign-finance/ "undefined") at the University of Pennsylvania. That’s because he made the issue a regular joke on the show and created a [Super PAC](http://swampland.time.com/2012/01/13/stephen-colbert-vs-the-supreme-court-testing-the-limits-of-super-pac-coordination/ "undefined"), a real-life example of how it works, the researchers argue. _The Colbert Report_ was compared to MSNBC, FOX News, CNN, and nightly network news shows, and the data is based on a phone survey of 1,232 adults 18 or older interviewed Dec. 13-23, 2012. The study was published online in [_Mass Communication and Society_](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15205436.2014.891138#.U4yEvnJdWZk "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2819459/study-finds-watching-the-colbert-report-is-more-informative-than-watching-the-news/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2819459/study-finds-watching-the-colbert-report-is-more-informative-than-watching-the-news/"},"headline":"Study Finds Watching The Colbert Report Is More Informative Than Watching The News","datePublished":"2014-06-04T13:00:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:10:20.087Z","description":"Specifically regarding campaign finance and the politics of money","url":"https://time.com/2819459/study-finds-watching-the-colbert-report-is-more-informative-than-watching-the-news/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Media","stephen colbert","the colbert report"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2819459/study-finds-watching-the-colbert-report-is-more-informative-than-watching-the-news/","name":"Study Finds Watching The Colbert Report Is More Informative Than Watching The News"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Best of Stephen Colbert","description":"The next host of","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/PNJDP9f3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-04-10T21:49:49.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PNJDP9f3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/2819459/study-finds-watching-the-colbert-report-is-more-informative-than-watching-the-news/","duration":"PT4M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/2819459/study-finds-watching-the-colbert-report-is-more-informative-than-watching-the-news/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```