In an interview that evoked his epic "Crossfire" smackdown, Jon Stewart finally met "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer on "The Daily Show" last night. I have to give Cramer kudos for having the guts to appear on Stewart's turf, but - bless his heart - he got killed.
Check out the full, unedited interview:
It seems that Stewart is pissed off less at Cramer personally, and more at CNBC for flaking off when it came to reporting on the financial crisis. (As Stewart said earlier this week, it's like the Weather Channel reporting from the middle of a hurricane, mystified because it's raining.) A lot of Stewart's critics dismiss him, saying that he's "just a comedian" and shouldn't cover such serious issues. I think Stewart would agree...which begs the question - how sad is it that it took a comedian to ask these questions?
There's a reason the news industry is collapsing. Reporters and editors (in print, TV, everything) have failed to balance their access to inside sources with their obligation to dig through the spin and tell as much of the truth as possible. And yes, I say this as a professional spinner myself. It's my job to express information in such as way that's advantageous to the organization that pays me. It's the media's job to take my information with a grain of salt and not run it as gospel truth without independent corroboration.
Don't get me wrong, I have the deepest sympathy for the reporters and editors I work with, whose higher-ups are more concerned with media as a business model than as a public service. But when the MSM look around wondering how a guy on a basic cable comedy channel developed more credibility than them, I think they'd be better served by taking a hard look in the mirror.
1 comment:
Great post!
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