On one hand, you could argue that even real tele-journalism has descended into self-parody. Certainly, the notion of Larry King contributing to The Daily Show isn’t really that much crazier than the notion of a nightly CNN broadcast hosted by a reality show judge. (Okay, Piers Morgan was also an accomplished tabloid journalist, but Edward R. Murrow he ain’t.*) Certainly, modern newscasters seems more willing to admit to the “performance” element of their work. In a sense, King might just be coming late to the party. Considering that The Daily Show has won two Peabody awards and is the number one news source for a significant slice of the (young) population, he might even be trading up from his last job, when he worked for the same network that greenlit Parker Spitzer.