Jon Stewart Has Beef With CNN And NBC

By Andrew Sanford | Celebrity | July 26, 2024 |

By Andrew Sanford | Celebrity | July 26, 2024 |

Cable news has not been as helpful as it should be. You would think that having access to current events almost around the clock would do wonders for us as a society. People could be informed by turning on their televisions! But reporting the news costs money. So, networks lead with more salacious stories. They make mountains out of molehills. They compete with each other over ratings by shelling out expensive graphics and controversial guests.

A lot of this comes from the top. The people in charge of the networks want to maximize value for shareholders. To do that, they feel they must appeal to everyone. But appealing to everyone means telling them what they want to hear. It is a bad system that has only gotten worse as Republicans insist on lying about everything and restricting access when called out.

Restricting access isn’t only the GOP tactic. Jon Stewart believes that the networks are also controlling who their reporters can and cannot talk to. “I would think it’s an embarrassment to those news organizations,” he explained on his podcast, The Weekly Show. According to the Daily Show host, CNN and NBC, “refuse to allow their reporters to come on a podcast (his) to talk about the issues of the day.” Stewart highlighted the strangeness of this, saying, “It’s unlike anything I’ve really ever seen.”

It’s not that Stewart hasn’t asked. He’s gone directly to the reporters, claiming that they want to appear on his show. When push comes to shove, they politely decline. “Let that sink in for just a a moment,” Stewart continued. “Organizations that rely on access and transparency refuse to allow their reporters to come on podcast to talk about the issues of the day. How is it possible that a news organization would not feel shame and bewilderment at using the techniques of obfuscation that they rail against from politicians and public figures?”

Stewart’s co-host, Lauren Walker, did play devil’s advocate over Stewart’s claims, asking, “Maybe they don’t want their [pundits’] ideas anywhere else, or maybe you appear partisan, and they want to avoid that?” But Stewart wasn’t biting. “This is NBC. I mean they have MSNBC,” Stewart replied. “We had the same problem with CNN. They gave us a bunch of sh*t for trying to bring somebody on. Like, it’s it’s bonkers, and it it makes no sense.”

I do think there’s something to Walker’s explanation. Stewart is seen as inherently partisan, even if liberals haven’t been overtly pleased with him this year. Still, Stewart is correct in that MSNBC and NBC can be pretty partisan as well. That being said, David Zaslav has insisted that CNN appeal more to both sides. It only makes sense then that he keep Wolf Blitzer away from Stewart and closer to an Aperol Spritz, ready to report the news at a moment’s notice.