I for one think that Jon Stewart is a great journalist, not for any keen insight or groundbreaking reports, but for his ability and consistency in showing the absurd circus act that is American politics. The Daily Show is at its best when it splices together clips of politicians saying one thing out of one corner of their mouths, and then turning around the next minute to say something completely different. This holds true no matter what side of the political spectrum they align themselves with. Very few other news agencies spend any amount of time revealing these men and women for the professional hypocrites they are; and for that, I appreciate Jon and what he does. And, while his particular political leanings are no secret, I argue that he throws a fair amount of pies toward his left in addition to his right (I don’t know if anyone saw the segment on Chris Dodd yesterday?). I noticed that the leading story on this website concerned Obama’s withdrawn plan to have military personnel tap into their own insurance providers for service-related healthcare; Stewart trashed Obama over this idea just a couple of days ago.
I’m a regular watcher of The Daily Show because I enjoy good satire – which they provide without fail – and not for political insight. I would also argue that my many friends who are also viewers share this same mindset. For true journalism, I turn to an assortment of other sources (of which, I might add, PJM is not one of).
Also, in defense of The Daily Show and Jim Cramer, the interview shown on Comedy Central was substantially edited to fit in the 30 minute time slot the show is provided with. You can, however, view the full interview on The Daily Show’s website which gives a lot more insight into the mind of Cramer, none of which is very redeeming though.
