10mo ago

"Are you trying to make this OJ?": Jon Stewart warns media's Trump trial coverage could backfire

www.salon.com "Are you trying to make this OJ?": Jon Stewart warns media's Trump trial coverage could backfire

Daily Show host blasts media for treating the "most mundane bulls**t" as "Earth-shattering."

Daily Show host blasts media for treating the "most mundane bullst" as "Earth-shattering"

Comedian Jon Stewart on Monday launched into a fiery rant aimed at the media coverage of former President Donald Trump's hush money trial in the latest episode of "The Daily Show."

Stewart spent a portion of Monday's segment lambasting media outlets for their coverage of Trump's criminal trial unfolding in Manhattan, in which prosecutors have alleged that he falsified business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.

“This trial will obviously be a test of the fairness of the American legal system, but it’s also a test of the media’s ability to cover Donald Trump in a responsible way. A task they have acknowledged they’ve performed poorly in the past,” Stewart said before showing a montage of clips from notable outlets like CNN and MSNBC acknowledging that they need to give less obsessive attention to the former president's every antic.

47 comments

I've missed Stewart's ability to sum up stories in such a grounded way. Oh, how I wish that we had him from 2016-2020.
- At the same time, his leaving was also a success story in itself. He had all the money he ever needed in life, he was at the top of his game except just was exhausted working that continual grind, and was feeling his age so unlike e.g. any member of Congress, decided to voluntarily relinquish his power in order to create room for new people to step up, while he went on to blaze entirely new pioneer territory outside of mainstream TV, which was quite a risk even for someone like him. Wow... what a class act! 😍
  
  And now that he's back he's only working Mondays, so he's got less risk of exhaustion and new people still get the rest of the week.
  
  Just that the new people that should have stepped up where mere shadows of Jon, unfortunately
- He was the biggest loss during the last presidency for sure.
- I wish we still had Trevor Moore.
  Yes, a different Trevor.
  E.g. https://youtu.be/fn3g21Yfd18
  Can you imagine part 2 to that?
  Or what he would do with the trump saga?
- I lost respect for him when he took Apple's money, it's no secret what kind of company Apple is. I wasn't surprised when they took China's side over John Stewart, I'm surprised Stewart didn't see it coming. Work for one of the most evil corporations, expect evil shit.
  Edit: instead of downvoting, use your words
  
  No one is perfect. All the other media company's are just as evil.

They don't care. As long as they get financial gain out of it, they don't mind. Whether Trump gets acquitted or convicted, they have their hands full covering either side's outrage for the next few years.

Jessica Williams‘ rebuttal was kind of legit though. Everything else in the news is miserable, and this case is pretty funny. Involves an orange jackass, a porn star, and opening testimony from a dude named pecker. Maybe is ok to have some trash reality TV at Trump’s expense.
- Sure, but that’s not what I want from the news.
  
  Even when I’m consuming my straitlaced NPR, I do enjoy a little Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me making fun of this case. Tragedy straight is pretty crushing. I need some comedy to sprinkled in so I don’t give up in complete despair.
  
  Eh it's 24/7 news.
  Jon nailed it that covering this stuff isn't necessarily an issue unless something more important comes up.
  And sure we could say these news outlets could cover a range of topics if not just teach civics when nothing is happening... But they're viewer/profit driven.

Covering Trump gives them great ratings so they will do it.

I didn't want to read this article, and couldn't find a video about this article about a video from the media about how the media is spending too much time covering trump, but here is the original video that is about how the media is spending too much time covering trump that this article is about.
Edit: for clarity sake, that link is just to the Jon Stuart video that this article is talking about.

They don't give a fuck. That's one of the many reasons young people have turned away from mainstream stream media. I suspect that's why they want to take down TikTok as well. They can't control the narrative there.
- While I agree, China controlling the narrative on their platform isn't a great option either.
- That’s one of the many reasons young people have turned away from mainstream stream media.
  It isn't just young people, it's basically anyone who understands that Media gets paid from views / clicks and that outrage is the single best generator of them. The horseshit is meters deep in coverage of everything political or politically related, not just Trump.
  It doesn't matter whether you are watching Fox News, reading articles from Vox, or consuming CNN; every bit it of it is specifically crafted to get you outraged...because that's how media gets paid.
  It's a vortex of flaming shit.
  
  I disagree about Vox, most of what I see from them is fairly straight reporting with an obvious left-leaning bias. But as far as I can tell, they don't embellish facts and as far as clickbait goes, it's way way better than most news outlets.
  This is their front page right now. Their headlines are refreshingly straightforward.

I liked the bit between him and Jessica that followed.
- It showed some self-awareness I appreciated, and damn do they have good chemistry.

Broadcast Media doesnt care.
Broadcast Media spent 6 years salivating over the ratings that trump pulled in pre and post election in the 2020 election. It was like having multiple mass shootings a day, without the viewer burnout. (Which is why you dont hear much obsessive coverage about the multiple mass shootings a day anymore)
Broadcast Media will burn this country to the ground as long as it can continue to pull in the ratings and viewership

It’s finally happening folks
The walls are closing in on Trump!!!

The media have a vested interest in keeping him relevant, otherwise they're going to lose a ton of money when politics becomes boring again.

Cable news' job is to sell advertising. Nelson is the judge of how well their doing.
This is what's so frustrating about neolibs like Jon. They think a call to honor, or perhaps some light regulation can reform capitalism. And even sillier, they imagine that a responsible cable news would somehow lead to an informed electorate.
This is an old schtick for Stuart. Fox News is crazy and CNN is stupid. Both sides, you guys. Please don't look at the incentive structure behind the curtain.
- Even if all that is true, Stewart is still 100% correct here
- Literally textbook deflection and whataboutism. And within the first 3 posts, which means it has a 70-80% chance to derail a thread, assuming regular rebuttals
- Neolibs don't know that money is the only factor in what's right and wrong
  My guy, what? Do you know what neoliberalism is or what it's stance is w/r/t what private organizations should and shouldn't do to make money?
  I generally don't even like Jon Stewart but the idea that he's taking a neolib stance here is ridiculous
- Cable news’ job is to report the news.
  A few decades ago, we had this thing called Fairness Doctrine, which more or less forced news organizations to behave as, well, news organizations first and foremost. But then Reagan decided we didn’t need to worry about that anymore, and Fairness Doctrine was repealed, and the quality of news as a public service in the United States has declined precipitously since that point.
  
  The Fairness Doctrine never applied to Cable News, only stuff broadcast over public airwaves.
- Nelson is the judge of how well their doing.
  So they're frantically trying to avoid this?
- I think that’s one of the things people like about Jon Stewart - the idealism. You’re right, though. You can’t make capitalism change by ignoring it.

47 comments