Letters and Comments

Stewart—Cramer Showdown

By U.S. News Staff

March 16, 2009 RSS Feed Print
  • Comment (31)

Jon Stewart has the luxury of hiding behind his imaginary shield of comedy, and thus, no matter what the outcome of his statements, can just fall back on, "Hey, it was just a joke" ["Jon Stewart Ices Jim Cramer With Earnest Anger, Not Bombast," usnews.com]. But what Stewart is really doing is perpetuating a society of victims, in which none of us need to take responsibility for our own poor choices. It's always easier to blame someone else, after all. Make no mistake about it; taking financial advice directly from a television personality is absolutely foolish. Neither Jim Cramer, nor CNBC are to blame, but rather, it is those people who religiously tuned into his show every night. Typically, I am a fan of The Daily Show, but I honestly believe Jon Stewart has taken a low blow with this verbal scuffle with Jim Cramer. Not only is it mean-spirited and unnecessary, but it's not funny. And just as Cramer is paid to excite us about Wall Street, Stewart is paid to make us laugh. I wish he'd get back to work.

Comment by Matt Hart of ME

I think a survey of Jon Stewart's audience is past due. There are plenty of very well educated politicians, professionals, and academics (myself included) that find the show informative. That is not to say that we, or anyone, should depend on it for a sole source of news and current events, and Stewart warns against this. The show does, however, find gems amidst the mass of media noise that highlight the mistakes and hypocrisy of many public figures (including Obama). This particular episode was a remarkable example of the utility of such a well researched show. When the ammunition for the assault on such characters as Cramer is their very own statements, then how is it "fake news" and how on earth is no one else making the connections they do!?

Comment by Zachary of AR

I am a huge Jon Stewart fan. He is a very smart comedian and on his show he always shows clips of people taken out of context to be funny. That is what I didn't like about this interview. He and his writers took clips that were very biased towards his argument without letting Cramer know what was going to be shown in advance to stir debate. He just ripped into him with no humor here. This is "fake news" that I turn on to be entertained and forget about all of the terrible news going on. I don't want to turn on Comedy Central and get the same biased interviews that I can with other news networks.

Comment by Robbie D. of CA

Jon Stewart isn't a Harvard alum, it's true. He is a comedian. On his show, Jon doesn't report the news, he shows you all of the ways the news was reported to us, and then he makes fun of the reporters. He and his team of writers watch a lot of news. Throughout its run, T he Daily Show has almost become the part of the media that reports on the media itself. Cramer is not the first media personality that Jon Stewart has taken to task, and he does it for the same fundamental reason every time. It is the job of those men to report the news and yes, give opinions. But when what they report is being said not for the sake of informing the public, but to instead manipulate the public, something needs to be said. Reporters have a responsibility to the public, regardless of who issues their paycheck.

Comment by Dani of CA

I love Jon Stewart because he is who he is, not a faux conservative like Stephen Colbert. Jon does his homework and treats his guests with dignity. OK, Jim Cramer was shown more dignity than he deserved, but he still survived. Jon makes us laugh at the inconsistencies of all of the movers and shakers, and he shows their lies so we can see for ourselves. Do I get all my news from T he Daily Show? No. I have gotten to know and love a lot of fascinating people from his show. Doris Kearns Goodwin comes to mind. Brian Williams is another. He even interviewed the unpopular presidents of Pakistan and Bolivia and handled them with dignity. It's always a surprise and always an education that we get nowhere else.

Comment by Jaclyn Kline of FL

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The failures of journalists have now been well documented (weapons of mass destruction) and stem largely from the declining budgets news organization have to work with. I think most journalists are well intentioned but have the lost the opportunity to do real research. On the other hand, thousands of financial industry "specialists" knew the real score and failed to clear their throats. Why did our modern blogosphere not live up to its promise?

Karl of NY 1:10PM March 25, 2009

If John Stewart wont berate those responsible for keeping us informed and staying ahead of the game then who will? Where are the indictments? Where are the lawsuits and the guilty being shuffled and shackled away thrown invariably into white collar prisons and beaten with wiffle bats?

We need an adult conversation with the young children who ran awry with our money, We need someone to say this is not a "f*@#ing Game! This is our retirement. This is money we need to feed our mouths when we turn 70. This is the long term investment we rely on to bankroll our disposable adult diapers and potato flakes Gah dah mitt! We know there are risks but they are the unforseen risks that only arise when there is major calamity or national disasters. We are being attacked and sabatoged from within our own country by the very people we elect and pay to protect us. The people we rely on to cast out those who would prey upon us. We bail them out and they pay themselves bonuses. Where are the lynch mobs? Are we above execution for this? How many people are going to have to work into their 80's to compensate for the failures of this system? People think that John Stewart was TOO harsh? On a man who opined on a nightly basis for hard working people to throw their money at the giant hole, knowing full well he helped dig it.

I sincerly thank whatever God exists for the freedoms I enjoy and the adulation I feel toward Mr. Stewart and his successful skewering of one of the many who thoroughly deserve it.

William Tiffany of UT 3:51AM March 23, 2009

Jon Stewart took shots at CNBC, Cramer and those "religiously tuned into his show every night." But if you listened to the interview with Jim Cramer, he wasn't blaming Cramer for leading the charge into the economic failure, he was accusing Cramer and CNBC of sitting by as financial analysts and pretending that companies were acting ethically when they knew those companies weren't.

He showed clips of Cramer advising people to manipulate the market to their company's advantage even admitting that those tactics could be considered illegal. Stewart wants Cramer and CNBC to behave like journalists and investigate. He was asking them to be the critical voice for the people who don't understand the markets as well as the "expets" do.

To accuse Stewart of hiding behind his comedian status is to say that you didn't listen to the interview. Cramer was caught up as a scapegoat during the jokes but in the end was offered a chance at redemption to truly represent the public as a journalist.

Troy of MN 2:13AM March 23, 2009

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