The Daily Show
Stewart served not only as host but also as a writer and executive producer of the series. He recalls that he initially struggled with the Kilborn holdover writers to gain control of the show and put his own imprint on the show's voice, a struggle that led to the departure of a number of the holdover writers. Instrumental in shaping the voice of the show under Stewart was former editor of The Onion Ben Karlin who, along with fellow Onion contributor David Javerbaum, joined the staff in 1999 as head writer and was later promoted to executive producer. Their experience in writing for the satirical newspaper, which uses fake stories to mock real print journalism and current events, would influence the comedic direction of the show; Stewart recalls the hiring of Karlin as the point at which things "[started] to take shape". Describing his approach to the show, Karlin said, "The main thing, for me, is seeing hypocrisy. People who know better saying things that you know they don't believe."