John Stossel

John Stossel is a reporter for ABC News.

The blog The Daily Howler reviews John Stossel’s one-time program on education, “Stupid in America.”

John Stossel tries to prove Americans are “stupid” (word from the title of John Stossel’s special) by giving a test to a small group of students in America and in Belguim. Stossel tells the audience that the students in Belgium scored higher, but he doesn’t tell the audience what was on the test or make a valid case that the two groups are representative of America and Belgium.

Stossel also presents a clip from Jay Leno’s Tonight Show in which adults are asked simple questions and give wrong answers. Stossel tells the audience, “The Tonight Show says these are not staged. These are their real answers.”

The Daily Howler responds about the comedic Tonight Show bit that “these segments are selected—selected for airing because of their dumbness. But then, that’s also what happens when ABC News decides to air John Stossel.”

The Daily Howler suggests that the real stupidity is in the pseudo-journalism of John Stossel.