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March 13, 2009
Stewart v Cramer
The videos are available here. It was, and I don't think I'm being too hyperbolic here, an historic moment of television. Stewart channeled the frustration a lot of Americans are feeling toward the financial system these days and absolutely tore into Jim Cramer. But it wasn't really about Jim Cramer. It was about the dishonesty of our two-tiered financial system and CNBC's abysmal excuse for financial journalism.
James Fallows calls Stewart an Edward R. Murrow. This is how journalists are supposed to hold interviewees' feet to the fire, especially authority figures—and it's depressing that our best example comes from someone who considers himself first and foremost a comedian.
Cramer might actually get a second wind if he takes Stewart's advice and remodels himself as a speak-truth-to-power type of financial journalist. CNBC may be too big to take down or change—they've got the weight of GE behind them—but the interview is generating a whole lot of buzz, so who knows?
Posted by Elyas Bakhtiari at 10:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack