Jon Stewart on Crossfire

I really enjoyed watching a clip from a recent episode of crossfire. Jon Stewart, the host of the Daily Show on comedy central, appeared on the show to promote his book... sort of.

The interview started fairly well, but drifted when Stewart started to interject his opinions on how shows like crossfire are hurting the american public. They pose as shows committed to openly debating the issues important to society and government, but they end up only being ego driven shouting matches with nothing ever resolved. Stewart kept pressing this issue, and Tucker Carlson, the young kid with the bow tie that hosts crossfire, kept prodding Stewart to be funny, and making comments about how he seemed like more fun on his own show.

Well, the result of these two snipping at each other ended with Stewart's quick wit making Tucker Carlson look like a fool.

Since reading the transcript and watching the video, I've come across a lot of blogs and sites that fault stewart for hiding behind his show being on comedy central. A good deal of the comments I've read pertaining to the issue say that Stewart is a hypocrite, because he is soft on politicians, and because he's also partisan.

My answer to that issue is simply that he is on the Daily Show... a comedy show about politics on comedy central... and this is exactly the way he defended himself. Yet, some people say he's hiding behind the fact that his show is on a comedy network, and that his show is a comedy show. That's entirely the point... people don't watch his show to get their information about politics or current events (though sadly I've read that a lot of young people may be starting to do just that). People watch to be entertained, and that's how the show is marketed... that's the difference in essence.

The daily show does not take itself seriously, and does not expect anyone else to do so. However, shows like Crossfire, and Hannity and Colmes make themselves out to be open forums for discussion of the issues. Most of the time, though, the shows are just there for entertainment also. People watch the shows to see Sean Hannity yell at a college kid, or cut off a disgruntled guests mic. They are not there for any purpose other than to provide drama to the people who want to see it... and maybe have someone yell their viewpoints louder than they're able to.

My last comment on the matter is also related to this point. I read another comment that said that it's not the fault of CNN, or any other network for that matter, for putting garbage like this show on TV. It's what the people want, so they have to do so. Of course, you have to give the people what they want. Sometimes though, you have to give people what is better for the viewers, an open discussion presenting more than two sides of an issue (idealistic, I know). You can't just let the public dictate your programming... if the public wants something that's unhealthy for whatever reason, you may have to abstain.