On 12 December 2012, CBS This Morning shipwrecked its aim to be hard news alternative to ABC's Good Morning American and NBC's Today show, as its only coverage of the passage of the right-to-work law in Michigan was a clip of Comedy Central's Jon Stewart ripping the legislation. Anchors Charlie Rose and Norah O'Donnell laugh on air in reaction to Stewart's shtick, with O'Donnell adding, "That's pretty good."

The liberal Daily Show host poked fun of the "right-to-work" phrase: "It's really a right to work around the union for the corporation. It's one of those things that are actually named for the opposite of the thing they do, like strip bars call themselves 'gentlemen's clubs'....Or the TV network dedicated to making us stupider is called The Learning Channel."