On October 15, 2004, Jon Stewart appeared on the program to promote his book America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction. He criticized the format of Crossfire and the style of arguments presented on the show. He said the program failed its responsibility to the public discourse and indulged in partisan hackery, reducing news coverage of important issues to a series of talking points from both extremes of the political spectrum: “It’s hurting America. Here is what I wanted to tell you guys: Stop… You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably.” Carlson countered Stewart’s criticisms by reading examples of questions Stewart had asked of then-presidential candidate John Kerry during his recent interview on The Daily Show, such as, “How are you holding up?” and “Have you ever flip-flopped?” Stewart argued that unlike Carlson and Begala he was a comedian, not a journalist, and therefore it was not his role to conduct hard-hitting interviews. Begala defended the show on the basis that it was intended as a forum for debate, to which Stewart responded that Crossfire was much closer to theater than genuine debate.
Following his appearance, transcripts and live stream footage were released on the Internet and widely watched and discussed. The episode itself had 867,000 viewers (the average number of viewers Crossfire had per episode in the previous month was about 615,000). As of March 7, 2013, the 14 minute 14 second clip had over 5,463,255 views on youtube.
In January 2005, CNN announced that it was cancelling Crossfire and that it would not be renewing Carlson’s contract. Carlson claimed it was he who had chosen to leave, to take a job at MSNBC. In the news release containing the announcement, CNN CEO Jonathan Klein indicated that he wanted to change the tone of shows on the network, and in interviews said he sympathised with Jon Stewart’s criticisms of Crossfire.
One of [Tucker] Carlson’s most memorable appearances on Crossfire was his 2004 heated exchange with Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, prior to the 2004 presidential election. Stewart criticized the format of shows like Crossfire, calling Carlson and co-host Paul Begala “partisan hacks,” and asked them to “stop hurting America.”
Carlson countered by criticizing Stewart’s July 2004 interview with then U.S. Presidential candidate John Kerry. He accused Stewart of “sniffing Kerry’s throne” and “not asking tough questions.” Stewart replied, contextualizing his own show as a comedic rather than journalistic venue, “It’s interesting to hear you talk about my responsibility […] I didn’t realize that, and maybe this explains quite a bit, is that the news organizations look to Comedy Central for their cues on integrity.” Jon Stewart further emphasized his distaste for Crossfire by adding the comment that “To do a debate would be great. But that’s like saying Pro Wrestling is a show about athletic competition.” After Carlson told Stewart “I think you’re more fun on your show,” Stewart replied by saying: “You know what’s interesting though? You’re as big a dick on your show as you are on any show.”
After their televised confrontation, Carlson recalls, Stewart “stayed at CNN several hours after the show to discuss the issues that he raised on the air… He (Stewart) needed to do this”.
In January 2005, CNN announced they were ending their relationship with Carlson and would soon cancel Crossfire. CNN chief Jonathan Klein told Carlson on January 4, 2005, that the network had decided not to renew his contract. Carlson, however, claims he had already resigned from CNN and Crossfire long before Stewart was booked as a guest, telling host Patricia Duff: “I resigned from Crossfire in April, many months before Jon Stewart came on our show, because I didn’t like the partisanship, and I thought in some ways it was kind of a pointless conversation… each side coming out, you know, [raises fists] ‘Here’s my argument,’ and no one listening to anyone else. [CNN] was a frustrating place to work.”
mshalopd
It’s a sad day when your comedians are twice as smart as the people who provide us with “political insights”.
PrometheusCircuit
True. But you could replace the word “conservative” with “liberal” and it’s still true. I haven’t noticed any difference in trustworthiness between Republican or Democratic politicians.
On October 15, 2004, Jon Stewart appeared on the program to promote his book America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction. He criticized the format of Crossfire and the style of arguments presented on the show. He said the program failed its responsibility to the public discourse and indulged in partisan hackery, reducing news coverage of important issues to a series of talking points from both extremes of the political spectrum: “It’s hurting America. Here is what I wanted to tell you guys: Stop… You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably.” Carlson countered Stewart’s criticisms by reading examples of questions Stewart had asked of then-presidential candidate John Kerry during his recent interview on The Daily Show, such as, “How are you holding up?” and “Have you ever flip-flopped?” Stewart argued that unlike Carlson and Begala he was a comedian, not a journalist, and therefore it was not his role to conduct hard-hitting interviews. Begala defended the show on the basis that it was intended as a forum for debate, to which Stewart responded that Crossfire was much closer to theater than genuine debate.
Following his appearance, transcripts and live stream footage were released on the Internet and widely watched and discussed. The episode itself had 867,000 viewers (the average number of viewers Crossfire had per episode in the previous month was about 615,000). As of March 7, 2013, the 14 minute 14 second clip had over 5,463,255 views on youtube.
In January 2005, CNN announced that it was cancelling Crossfire and that it would not be renewing Carlson’s contract. Carlson claimed it was he who had chosen to leave, to take a job at MSNBC. In the news release containing the announcement, CNN CEO Jonathan Klein indicated that he wanted to change the tone of shows on the network, and in interviews said he sympathised with Jon Stewart’s criticisms of Crossfire.
One of [Tucker] Carlson’s most memorable appearances on Crossfire was his 2004 heated exchange with Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, prior to the 2004 presidential election. Stewart criticized the format of shows like Crossfire, calling Carlson and co-host Paul Begala “partisan hacks,” and asked them to “stop hurting America.”
Carlson countered by criticizing Stewart’s July 2004 interview with then U.S. Presidential candidate John Kerry. He accused Stewart of “sniffing Kerry’s throne” and “not asking tough questions.” Stewart replied, contextualizing his own show as a comedic rather than journalistic venue, “It’s interesting to hear you talk about my responsibility […] I didn’t realize that, and maybe this explains quite a bit, is that the news organizations look to Comedy Central for their cues on integrity.” Jon Stewart further emphasized his distaste for Crossfire by adding the comment that “To do a debate would be great. But that’s like saying Pro Wrestling is a show about athletic competition.” After Carlson told Stewart “I think you’re more fun on your show,” Stewart replied by saying: “You know what’s interesting though? You’re as big a dick on your show as you are on any show.”
After their televised confrontation, Carlson recalls, Stewart “stayed at CNN several hours after the show to discuss the issues that he raised on the air… He (Stewart) needed to do this”.
In January 2005, CNN announced they were ending their relationship with Carlson and would soon cancel Crossfire. CNN chief Jonathan Klein told Carlson on January 4, 2005, that the network had decided not to renew his contract. Carlson, however, claims he had already resigned from CNN and Crossfire long before Stewart was booked as a guest, telling host Patricia Duff: “I resigned from Crossfire in April, many months before Jon Stewart came on our show, because I didn’t like the partisanship, and I thought in some ways it was kind of a pointless conversation… each side coming out, you know, [raises fists] ‘Here’s my argument,’ and no one listening to anyone else. [CNN] was a frustrating place to work.”
Top Comments
mshalopd
It’s a sad day when your comedians are twice as smart as the people who provide us with “political insights”.
PrometheusCircuit
True. But you could replace the word “conservative” with “liberal” and it’s still true. I haven’t noticed any difference in trustworthiness between Republican or Democratic politicians.