I wanted to say something about the recent Jon Stewart/Jim Cramer face-off. I have to say, I thought this was one of the most powerful and to-the-point shows I’ve seen in a long time.
What Jon called Cramer and CNBC out on was not just being wrong sometimes, it was failing to do journalism. Cramer’s show is like the Daily Show in that it’s entertaining, but it’s not the Daily Show in that Cramer does not do his homework. It’s mostly him up spouting off the top of his head, not doing research, making calls based on his gut. He’s a smart guy but Jon rightly called him out on failing to use his experience and smarts and do the hard work that is incumbent upon him in his role on his show. Jon is saying: fucking take your job seriously. He has some moral authority here since it’s damn obvious the Daily Show staff does THEIR research, far better than the vast majority of real news shows out there. Yet, people with real financial knowledge and experience are up there spouting things off the top of their heads — yet he and his Daily Show writers, who he acknowledges are mainly entertainers — are out there trying to figure it all out, as best they can, without that background and expertise.
He called Cramer out not just for being wrong, but for being lazy. For not doing his job, for not taking his job seriously. And, quite frankly, I think Cramer listened. I think he actually got his point across. This wasn’t just a takedown of Cramer: it was a schooling of Cramer, and maybe a schooling of CNBC. Jon’s essentially saying: do your jobs, fuckers. If you’re going to sell yourself as a serious network covering financial news, well then, be a serious network covering financial news.
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It was a great show.
March 14th, 2009 at 12:23 am