John Stewart Censored?
Push their buttons and they pull their strings?
Did the Hacks from Crossfire get John Stewart’s Daily Show: Global Edition axed from CNN International?
I have my office VCR set to tape the Daily Show each monday, but when I played today’s tape I found myself watching a totally different show. First I questioned my ability to program a VCR in Japanese, using military time to boot, but that was not the problem. I checked out the online schedule, and Stewart’s show has been replaced with Reliable Sources. Was this a programming change that had been in the works for months, or is it payback for the way he ambushed the Crossfire twits on CNN the other day?
Stewart’s program my be comedy, but he is a lot more truthful than the “real” media. He calls it as it is, and does it with a laugh. There have actually been a few studies that pointed out that viewers of the Daily Show are better informed about the elections than viewers of the “real” media. We need more people like Stewart who aren’t playing the media game of spin-spin-spin.
October 19th, 2004 at 2:27 am
Steve,
I also saw the clip via the net. Thought it was classic. Stewart played a very modest, sincere, and down-to-earth role. Somehow, I’m not surprised that CNN axed it.
October 19th, 2004 at 8:40 am
I AM surprised. Doesn’t this seem like a little like the old “I’m taking my ball and going home” kind of reaction?
Then again, it was Dubya who popularized the philosophy of “you are either with us, or against us”, and it just seems logical that his minions will play the same way. Democracy is based on the free flow of opinions, polite disagreement, and decisions by consensus and majority vote. Dictatorships are based on one voice, and a firm foot on the tongue of others with dissenting opinions. Which does this seem to be?
One of Stewart’s best lines was:
“I had always thought, in a democracy — and, again, I don’t know — I’ve only lived in this country — that there’s a process…”
BTW, the transcript (provided by CNN) is here.