For years, Americans have relied on news media for information about their country. Networks like CNN, NBC, and Fox have the responsibility of giving Americans the facts on a daily basis. But it is hard to tell which of them can truly be considered a “trusted news source”.

We have to take into account that these news broadcasts are being written and presented by people with their own political views, and what we are getting may not always be fact.

Other times, we are presented with blatant, ignorant lies. Take Fox News, a network notorious for its right-wing bias. Their anchors and personalities constantly attack liberal points of view, and are often caught lying outright. For example, two panelists from the Fox News show “The Five” went on record as saying that there were no terrorist attacks during the presidency of George W. Bush.

“I don’t remember any terrorist attacks on American soil between 2000 and 2008,” said panelist Eric Bolling. As I’m sure we’re all aware, 2001 brought us one of the worst terrorist attacks in American history. Fox News also hyped up the rumor that Americans would be given Health Care based on their social worth (Death Panels.)

Conservatives would say that networks like MSNBC lie just as much as Fox, but there are far less examples of dramatic falsehoods in their news coverage. However, you could say that MSNBC does show a liberal bias, if only because of the time they spend talking about why Fox News is wrong, and having many people of left-wing persuasion on their programs.

The fact is that many people feel like the social distance of the figures they get their news from alienates them from their own opinions.

With this in mind, we needn’t look far for the people who can offer a sane opinion about politics. Many musicians in the ’60s and ’70s wrote protest songs about being unhappy with their government. These days, the Average Joe of American life is greatly represented by our modern comedians.

“I think the reason that satire is on the rise is because the real news is so bad right now,” says comedy writer Andy Borowitz. “I’d love it if we lived in the world where there was nothing to satire, but given this world, people need satire and comedy right now. …[Humor] enables us to look at the horrible things going on and survive [them].”

One of the most prominent political comedians of our time is Jon Stewart. Stewart, who hosts the nine-time Emmy winning program “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, has to wade through a sea of injustice to get to the depressingly hilarious truth every night.

In a recent segment, “GOP: Special Victims Unit,” he put together a stunning montage of attacks on the left from Fox News correspondents, after they claimed the Liberal media constantly played the “victim card,” meaning they complained that conservatives constantly attacked them.

Stewart also put together a rally with fellow late-night political comic Stephen Colbert called “The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.” The rally was just a reminder to everyone that even though times are bad, we don’t need to look for someone to blame it on.

We’re in trouble, but we don’t need to lose our heads. With other great political comics like Bill Maher, Lewis Black, and the late George Carlin to laugh with, it’s safe to say that we can rely on humor to put our world in perspective.