March 15, 2009

The Real Message of the Stewart-Cramer Saga

Admittedly, this is a somewhat lazy post, composed as it is primarily of video clips, and only lightly sprinkled with text. However, with the earlier attention I gave Jon Stewart's demolition of CNBC's financial news coverage, I also genuinely felt I should follow up on the matter. With that in mind, I present the entire Stewart-CNBC-Jim Cramer saga below.

One thing I would ask readers and viewers to keep in mind, however, is that while this confrontation between Mr. Stewart and Mr. Cramer is great "spat TV," there are far more important layers to this story than a feud between television personalities, as The Daily Show's host has attempted to make clear. This is not about Jim Cramer in particular, or even CNBC; it's about the responsibility of journalists to the public - whether covering Wall Street or the run-up to the Iraq War - that has been increasingly abandoned.

Mr. Stewart made an example of Jim Cramer and CNBC not because they are the problem in particular, but because they are emblematic of the compromised, stenographic and incurious reportage that has become so common in the United States. How sad is it that the credibility of the mainstream media is so low, that potentially the best interviewer in the country is a comedian?



MARCH 4, 2009: Jon Stewart eviscerates Rick Santelli and CNBC



MARCH 9, 2009: Jon Stewart makes it clear that he has plenty of ammunition to answer critics of his March 4th commentary



MARCH 10, 2009: A less important piece (largely for completists!) touching on the network-wide closing of ranks around Jim Cramer



MARCH 12, 2009: Part 1 of Jon Stewart's interview with Jim Cramer
(NOTE: This clip is unedited, and may contain adult language.)




MARCH 12, 2009: Part 2 of Jon Stewart's interview with Jim Cramer
(NOTE: This clip is unedited, and may contain adult language.)




MARCH 12, 2009: Part 3 of Jon Stewart's interview with Jim Cramer
(NOTE: This clip is unedited, and may contain adult language.)


1 comment:

PBI said...

Anonymous,

Thanks for stopping by.

You wrote: While I enjoy watching Cramer every night, one must remember the show is primarily entertainment. The financial networks exist to promote their advertisers financial and investment products. Who would expect them to warn about the credit bubble or coming Washington national debt collapse which will destroy much of the remaining private wealth in America today or what this will do to the dollar, the stock market, bonds, gold or the real estate market?

I disagree entirely. These shows do NOT bill themselves as "entertainment" or even "primarily entertainment." From the CNBC website:
CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news, providing real-time financial market coverage and business information to more than 340 million homes worldwide, including more than 95 million households in the United States and Canada.

"Mad Money", "Squawk Box" and the like may be adjudged to be poor-performing news shows, but news show they set out to be, and there is every reasonable expectation that they will report using journalistic standards.

Cheers,
PBI