Lieberman - For those who don't think Bush is Jewish enough.

July 14, 2003 10:07 AM

Amusing/interesting transcript of Bill Moyer's recent interview with Jon Stewart concerning the Daily Show & the state of media's involvement in political discourse in America.
posted by jonson (30 comments total)

Crossfire, especially, is completely an apropos name. It's what innocent bystanders are caught in when gangs are fighting. And-- it just boggles my mind that that's given a half hour, an hour a day to-- I don't understand how issues can be dissented-- from the left and from the right as though-- even cartoon characters have more than left and right. They have up and down.

Yea, verily. Good post jonson, thanks very much!
posted by psmealey at 10:30 AM on July 14, 2003

Thanks indeed. This made for some great lunch reading.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:34 AM on July 14, 2003

That Jon Stewart's pretty smart, ain't he?
posted by dcodea at 10:44 AM on July 14, 2003

I don't make a point of catching the Daily Show, but whenever I run into it I'm always floored by the way the comedy re-shapes my perceptions of current events as they've been spun by the rest of the media. A good swift boot to the head with some genuine laughs thrown into the mix...
It's some amazing stuff and I'm grateful Jon Stewart & co. are out there producing it.

Thanks for the read, jonson!
posted by clever sheep at 10:46 AM on July 14, 2003

Man, I wish Jon Stewart could teach my journalism classes.
posted by katieinshoes at 10:47 AM on July 14, 2003

Few things have the power to make me miss cable. Mr. Stewart, I salute you.
posted by kahboom at 10:52 AM on July 14, 2003

A recent change in ownership of Comedy Central (from a 50/50 between Viacom and AOLTW to all Viacom) may be good for the Daily Show or bad. Stewart may now be in line to succeed Dan Rather at CBS (good) or the channel may be rebranded (ala Spike TV) to Shecky TV (very bad).
posted by wendell at 11:12 AM on July 14, 2003

Stewart's statement that John Kerry was like Gore but without the carisma was classic.
posted by Space Coyote at 11:14 AM on July 14, 2003

BILL MOYERS: Is that a healthy criteria for voting?

JON STEWART: It's a very healthy criterion for voting. To be fair, him saying, that's why I approved that message, is based on the new campaign laws. So.
--

Don't know if Moyers misspoke or the person who transcribed the interview misheard. Stewart knows his stuff, though.
posted by emelenjr at 11:31 AM on July 14, 2003

I've heard wonderful things about the Bush vs. Bush debate. Lacking cable, I'd love to check it out on the web somewheres. Anyone know where it might be located?
posted by aladfar at 11:37 AM on July 14, 2003

The quote that doubled me over was calling Fox News the US Al-Jazeera.
posted by Cerebus at 11:38 AM on July 14, 2003

Found it: Bush vs. Bush
posted by aladfar at 11:39 AM on July 14, 2003

Reading this made me wish the early years of "Not Necessarily the News" were available on DVD.
posted by gluechunk at 11:45 AM on July 14, 2003

Ah, good link jonson and great find aladfar. Still laughing.
posted by widdershins at 12:03 PM on July 14, 2003

I caught the interview on Friday night, thought this assessment by Stewart was right on:

BILL MOYERS: And what is the media doing to help us sort us out?

JON STEWART: Oh. they're not. Yeah, no. That's-- yeah, they sat this one out. Yeah, they're not-- they're not getting involved. It's very tiring. And they have weather reports to give. Nah, the media is not interested in-- fairness. The media is-- look politicians have figured out the media. Let's face facts. When-- when television first appeared it proved itself to be a vital insight into the process.

Nixon-- you mentioned the Nixon-Kennedy debates. It was-- At that point, politicians didn't know how to handle the media. So Nixon could say, I look fine. I don't need make-up. These lights won't make me sweat. I'm sure I'll come off as calm and collected and eloquent.

And then, as he was sweating and looked you know maniacal, he ended up losing. Well, at this point-- so at that point television was ahead of the game. Politicians have caught up. They understand that 24-hour news networks? They don't have time for journalism. They only have time for reporting. They only have time to be handed things and go, this is what I've just been handed by the administration. And they read it.

So now that the administration knows that, and they're very disciplined, they can manipulate what goes on the air and what sets the agenda. And-- and that's what they do.
posted by Ty Webb at 12:31 PM on July 14, 2003

Jon Stewart is friggin' brilliant. Nice post, jonson.
posted by bedhead at 1:01 PM on July 14, 2003

I caught this late last night.

Jon Stewart makes me want to get cable. And a TV.
posted by bshort at 1:07 PM on July 14, 2003

Where's the anti-Jon Stewart contingent? Without a strong dissenting voice, there's nothing for the rest of us to do but continue to parade our favorite quotes...

Like this one about the White House press corps:

It an incredibly, managed, theatrical farce. And it's incredible to be that people are playing along with it. And they say that they're playing along with it because they're afraid of losing access. You don't have any access! There's nothing to lose!
posted by soyjoy at 1:24 PM on July 14, 2003

Well, I for one don't really find Stewart all that funny. His little side comments between the pre-written material are the most annoying parts of the show. Stephen Colbert is definitely the lynchpin.
posted by Hildago at 1:48 PM on July 14, 2003

I wouldn't say I'm anti-Stewart, but I dont think he's breaking any new ground with his media analysis... He's just parroting critics who've been exposing the media farce for decades. And another thing--does he write his own material? To say he's brilliant is like saying John Wayne is really brave.
posted by mert at 1:51 PM on July 14, 2003

Worst transcript ever. How many mistakes were in there? I couldnt' count them. "Than" where there should have been "then," missing words, poorly punctuated... What underpaid, incredibly lazy college student intern was paid to hack out this piece of crap? Shame on PBS for this.
posted by Hammerikaner at 1:59 PM on July 14, 2003

Stewart is fine, but I still have trouble keeping track of which correspondent is which. They should make them all wear different coloured clothes like the ninja turtles or Wiggles.
posted by Gary at 2:02 PM on July 14, 2003

He's brilliant because he's reaching a much broader audience than "media critics" do. Is the average politically apathetic American more likely to perceive the absurdity of the mainstream media because of the Daily Show or because of an academic/cultural critic's essay?

Also, whether or not he scripts everything he says on the Daily Show (which I assume he does not), he's stunningly sharp in the interviews I've seen him give -- the linked one included.
posted by blissbat at 3:16 PM on July 14, 2003

the fascinating thing to me is that (especially since 911) often i'll see him surprise guests with excellent questions between making jokes (even better when he went on connie chungs show and asked a question of another guest which made chungs questions look idiotic). Admittedly the show is histerical and i do believe he has allot of oversight on the final product (i was at a talk by mo rocca and he said stewart was key to the show). I can't wait to see him heading up CBS nightly news.

oh yeah, thanks jonson
posted by NGnerd at 8:56 PM on July 14, 2003

I stayed home on Friday night to watch this interview. Jon Stewart really is brilliant. He had a talk show back on MTV years ago and I've been watching him since then when I can (no cable). He is actually invited to be on quite a few journalism panels etc. I remember watching him on TV on a big panel with people like Dan Rather (I think it was on elections and youth) and they all just shut up and let him talk b/c he was the only person making sense in the whole room.
posted by maggie at 12:17 AM on July 15, 2003

Stewart knows his stuff, though.

Because he apparently knows the difference between the singular and plural forms of 'criterion'?

America really is in trouble.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:27 AM on July 15, 2003

Stav: He knows his stuff for all the reasons mentioned by viewers above. Knowing the difference between the singular and plural forms of criterion just makes him brilliant and grammatically delectable.

::licks lips::
posted by lazaruslong at 8:41 AM on July 15, 2003

He is actually [been] invited to be on quite a few journalism panels etc.

If he has, then something is seriously effed up. He's got to be laughing on the inside. If he's been invited onto journalism panels, then it's got to mean that they're trying to subvert the guy. I think the high praise for him is more a commentary for how stupid broadcast news has become.

I mean, I like John Stewart as much as the next guy. I watch The Daily Show as religiously as my tivo will let me. But, come on. Walter Cronkite would be rolling in his grave if he were dead.
posted by crunchland at 8:49 AM on July 15, 2003

This had me laughing (i second the notion that I wish I had cable just for this show):

[VIDEO CLIP]:
Stewart: But we are at war, and we here at THE DAILY SHOW will do our best to keep you informed of any late-breaking...humor we can find. Of course, our show is obviously at a disadvantage compared to the many news sources that we're competing with… at a disadvantage in several respects. For one thing, we are fake. They are not. So in terms of credibility we are, well, oddly enough, actually about even. We're about even.
[END VIDEO CLIP]
posted by jacobsee at 10:08 AM on July 15, 2003

man, i just watched some of those clips from aladfar's link... hilarious. "i on news" in particular had tears streaming down my cheek. it's enough to make me want cable.
posted by jcruelty at 11:52 AM on July 15, 2003