MTV:: Jon Stewart Bitchslaps CNN's 'Crossfire' Show

[jefferson_dem]

In what could well be the strangest and most refreshing media moment of the election season, "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart turned up on a live broadcast of CNN's "Crossfire" Friday and accused the mainstream media — and his hosts in particular — of being soft and failing to do their duty as journalists to keep politicians and the political process honest.

Reaching well outside his usual youthful "Daily Show" demo, Stewart took to "Crossfire" to promote his new book, "America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction" (see "Jon Stewart Writes A History Textbook That — At Last! — Features Nudity"), but instead of pushing the tome, Stewart used his time to verbally slap the network and the media for being "dishonest" and "doing a disservice" to the American public. After co-host Tucker Carlson suggested that Stewart went easy on Senator John Kerry when the candidate was a guest on "The Daily Show," Stewart unloaded on "Crossfire," calling hosts Carlson and Paul Begala "partisan hacks" and chiding them for not raising the level of discourse on their show beyond sloganeering.


<SNIP>


While the audience seemed to be behind Stewart, Begala and Carlson were both taken aback. The hosts tried to feed Stewart set-up lines hoping to draw him into a more light-hearted shtick, but Stewart stayed on point and hammered away at the show, the hosts, and the state of political journalism. Carlson grew increasingly frustrated, at first noting that the segment wasn't "funny," and later verbally sparring with the comedian.


<SNIP>


In an era when the media is increasingly fragmented and viewers can surround themselves with programming that falls right in line with their own views, be they on the right or the left, Stewart's blast seemed especially on point. It seems fitting that the tirade came on a day when much of the media attention focused on the presidential race was directed at the mention of Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter during the last presidential debate, as opposed to the issues addressed at that debate.


http://www.mtv.com/chooseorlose/headlines/news.jhtml?id=1492305

[MSgt213]

1. Dam MTV has better heads writing on their website then all the so called

news sites and tv shows.

[progdonkey]

3. MTV News has surprised me...

They had a "Choose or Lose" feature where they quite fairly went through both sides. When there were absurdities, they called the campaigns on them. It was a bit pro-Kerry, if only because Gideon Yago(?) was actually able to meet for an extended time with Kerry. They even had Walter Cronkite talking about politics and the political process throughout the show!

[w13rd0]

4. I get at least 3 or 4 people...

...tapping into my recording of Choose or Lose: John Kerry daily. It's pretty popular. As is the MoveOn film on the Iraq war.

[JLucas4092]

2. As Much As

I despise MTV (Music? Where?), they have had GOOD coverage of the election this year. Very non-partisan, very fair to both sides. It's sad when MTV and the Daily Show are our best sources of news.

[iamjoy]

5. Wish I Hadn't Stopped Watching

Would have liked to have seen this. Jon Stewart angry, he's so funny on his show, even when he is making a good point.

[renoray]

6. its all over the web

A few different host links and torrents have been posted on DU. It is very good.

[blondeatlast]

7. Actually, he never got angry, but *ucker Carlson did.

There are several threads where you can find recordings here on DU.

Check the "Media" forum first, Wonk had posted several locations.

[blondeatlast]

8. I'm well out of TDS demographic, ("of age" for MTV's launch, though!)

but I never miss it.

It has more in common with the outstanding quality half hour evening news of the past than anything FSCNN has to offer.

Yesterday's "Crossfire" was extraordinary; they didn't know what hit them, and Carlson got visibly upset. Stewart called them to task ON THEIR OWN TURF, and they had no defense.

In the "Media" forum, Wonk started a thread with several sites for downloads in various formats.

[sybylla]

9. Thank you so much for posting this. I absolutely love Jon Stewart

and I can't tell you how sad I am that I missed this. I was on DU all f*&^% day yesterday until 3pm and didn't hear a word about it. If I wasn't on dail-up, I'd try to download on of the video links.

Damn, Jon's good.