RSSQuestion the major media outlets? How dare you!
Oct 15
Great, great interview with Jon Stewart on CNNs Crossfire. I love seeing him in situations outside his own show because we can see his own views as opposed to the Daily Shows views (I assume they’re mostly the same, but several people have input into the Daily Show)
Here is the transcript of the interview. Just reading it didn’t do it justice though. Since the transcript denotes the laughter you don’t get the sense of the state of the hosts. It seemed more light hearted. You could see it was much more confrontational from the clip. If you happen to have BitTorrent you can get it from here
The best part was when Tucker Carlson was trying to slam Stewart for not asking “hard questions” when John Kerry came on. Stewarts reply, in summary, was “You know the system is screwed when national news shows are taking integrity queues from a comedy show preceded by puppets making crank calls.”
All I can say is that we’re paying an extra $40ish/month just to watch the Daily Show and it’s worth every penny. GO JON GO!
Oct 16, 2004 @ 01:58:36
While it’s fun to see Stewart beat up on CNN, I don’t know that I buy his argument. In Stewart’s interview with Kerry, didn’t he just elicit soundbytes and mindless conversation the same way Crossfire does? Sure, he’s on Comedy Central, but he knows his show is about more than comedy.
I’ve seen him on other shows (i.e. Charlie Rose), and he does the same thing. “Everyone else is doing society an injustice, but don’t expect me to be an example… I’m just pointing out that people like me are doing the public a disservice.”
If he’s frustrated, he should get involved in the process and *be* the change he wants to bring about. As a celebrity he should do something productive with the attention he gets. Until he does that, and until he’s better than the people he criticizes, I don’t put much salt in him.
Oct 17, 2004 @ 17:37:08
Mike, he’s doing a COMEDY show. Would you criticise a member of Saturday Night Live, who dislikes the media, for not stopping in the middle of a skit and questioning Kerry if he appeared on the show? Of course not. You have to look at the medium.
When Bill O’Reilly criticised Rap artists, did you call for him to start rapping during his nightly show?
Oct 18, 2004 @ 23:58:13
I guess I think of The Daily Show as more than a comedy show. Stewart is heavily involved in politics and media, whereas O’Reilly is not heavily involved in rap. Stewart’s point is correct, but the fact the he does the same thing on his show lessens the weight of his argument for me. It’s the same way I take Wonkette or Eschaton with a grain of salt.
I’m just saying given his unique place in the spotlight, he could probably make more of a difference if he wanted to. If he doesn’t want to, I’ve got no gripe with that, but I’m not going to rally behind him.