"Are you trying to make this OJ?": Jon Stewart warns media's Trump trial coverage could backfire

Daily Show host blasts media for treating the “most mundane bulls**t” as “Earth-shattering”

Comedian Jon Stewart on Monday launched into a fiery rant aimed at the media coverage of former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial in the latest episode of “The Daily Show.”

Stewart spent a portion of Monday’s segment lambasting media outlets for their coverage of Trump’s criminal trial unfolding in Manhattan, in which prosecutors have alleged that he falsified business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.

“This trial will obviously be a test of the fairness of the American legal system, but it’s also a test of the media’s ability to cover Donald Trump in a responsible way. A task they have acknowledged they’ve performed poorly in the past,” Stewart said before showing a montage of clips from notable outlets like CNN and MSNBC acknowledging that they need to give less obsessive attention to the former president’s every antic.

A_Random_Idiot,

Broadcast Media doesnt care.

Broadcast Media spent 6 years salivating over the ratings that trump pulled in pre and post election in the 2020 election. It was like having multiple mass shootings a day, without the viewer burnout. (Which is why you dont hear much obsessive coverage about the multiple mass shootings a day anymore)

Broadcast Media will burn this country to the ground as long as it can continue to pull in the ratings and viewership

CharlesDarwin,
@CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world avatar

I liked the bit between him and Jessica that followed.

lennybird,
@lennybird@lemmy.world avatar

It showed some self-awareness I appreciated, and damn do they have good chemistry.

xc2215x,

Covering Trump gives them great ratings so they will do it.

ghostdoggtv,

The media have a vested interest in keeping him relevant, otherwise they’re going to lose a ton of money when politics becomes boring again.

crusa187,

It’s finally happening folks

The walls are closing in on Trump!!!

The_Picard_Maneuver,
@The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world avatar

I’ve missed Stewart’s ability to sum up stories in such a grounded way. Oh, how I wish that we had him from 2016-2020.

postmateDumbass,

I wish we still had Trevor Moore.

Yes, a different Trevor.

E.g. youtu.be/fn3g21Yfd18

Can you imagine part 2 to that?

Or what he would do with the trump saga?

negativenull,
@negativenull@lemmy.world avatar

He was the biggest loss during the last presidency for sure.

OpenStars,
@OpenStars@startrek.website avatar

At the same time, his leaving was also a success story in itself. He had all the money he ever needed in life, he was at the top of his game except just was exhausted working that continual grind, and was feeling his age so unlike e.g. any member of Congress, decided to voluntarily relinquish his power in order to create room for new people to step up, while he went on to blaze entirely new pioneer territory outside of mainstream TV, which was quite a risk even for someone like him. Wow… what a class act! 😍

phoenixz,

Just that the new people that should have stepped up where mere shadows of Jon, unfortunately

OpenStars,
@OpenStars@startrek.website avatar

Tbf, those are some big shoes to try to fill:-) (I mean, not like, literally… but you know what I mean!)

IHawkMike,

Yep. I appreciate and respect Trevor and all of the other hosts, but it just wasn’t the same.

OpenStars,
@OpenStars@startrek.website avatar

Trevor’s standup specials are all really good, both before and after he came to America. He has a strong act, talking about his personal life and responses to that.

But he wasn’t as good a fit in a team environment talking about mainstream American matters, except ironically when the show was “over” for the day and he talked more in his personal voice again. I strongly hope to see him land somewhere else where I can enjoy him again - I’d definitely keep following his comedy specials.

Though nothing compares to Jon Stewart being back in the saddle again!!! 🎉 🤩

rigatti,
@rigatti@lemmy.world avatar

John Oliver stepped up, although not on the Daily Show itself. I’m always excited to have something new ruined for me every week.

OpenStars,
@OpenStars@startrek.website avatar

Afaict he is the last “investigative journalist” left in America, though he is biased himself, yet who else comes close that amount of depth?

lennybird,
@lennybird@lemmy.world avatar

There are loads of investigative journalists they just don’t have the audience size these satirists have.

Propublica does insane work. PBS Frontline as well. Amanapour. Many stories break from the likes of WaPo as well.

OpenStars,
@OpenStars@startrek.website avatar

Yeah, and CGP Grey, Ian Danskin’s Innuendo Studios, I enjoy the Crash Course series though more classes than topical, and Kurzgesagt is amazing though has their own type of bias.

But if I want to know something about e.g. Boeing or train derailments or a deep dive into student loans, or something I did not even know that I wanted to know about e.g. the current status of ethical farming wrt chocolate, or food delivery apps, he has it all covered. So it is not only the depth that is fascinating, but the width and breadth of coverage as well (both wrt a single video and moreover the number of those total).

Unfortunately it mixes in opinion and interpretation directly integrated alongside the delivery of the facts. So it is funny (juvenile), informative (truly!), and overbearing all at once, and seems designed to leave you feeling more informed than you actually are upon watching.:-(

Still, they offer so very many videos on so very many topics, and I have never seen anything these days that comes close - e.g. their Boeing video describes more in 10 of its 30 minutes than a typical TV “documentary” these days (at least, of the type my mother watches), and then it goes on to cover essentially what a full length feature film documentary would cover, all in something digestible while eating a lunch (or two). And I respect that so much - that takes effort and skill that is hard to match.

ryper,

And now that he’s back he’s only working Mondays, so he’s got less risk of exhaustion and new people still get the rest of the week.

OpenStars,
@OpenStars@startrek.website avatar

Unfortunately it’s only slated to last until the election results… though this is one time that I hope things do not go as planned!:-P

CharlesDarwin,
@CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, seems like a win-win. I remember someone joking with Oliver about how he only does it once a week or something. I like the rotating host thing - when they have people that are not just substituting BEING LOUD for being funny or insightful. Having John for one day of the week and letting others take the helm other days is a nice blend.

Jordan Klepper needs a LOT more air time. He had his own show for like a hot minute and it was great but maybe it just didn’t have the numbers so it didn’t last long.

Also - where the heck is Samantha Bee and her husband these days?

Son_of_dad, (edited )

I lost respect for him when he took Apple’s money, it’s no secret what kind of company Apple is. I wasn’t surprised when they took China’s side over John Stewart, I’m surprised Stewart didn’t see it coming. Work for one of the most evil corporations, expect evil shit.

Edit: instead of downvoting, use your words

Daft_ish,

No one is perfect. All the other media company’s are just as evil.

reagansrottencorpse,

They don’t give a fuck. That’s one of the many reasons young people have turned away from mainstream stream media. I suspect that’s why they want to take down TikTok as well. They can’t control the narrative there.

AlternateHuman02,

While I agree, China controlling the narrative on their platform isn't a great option either.

Buelldozer,
@Buelldozer@lemmy.today avatar

That’s one of the many reasons young people have turned away from mainstream stream media.

It isn’t just young people, it’s basically anyone who understands that Media gets paid from views / clicks and that outrage is the single best generator of them. The horseshit is meters deep in coverage of everything political or politically related, not just Trump.

It doesn’t matter whether you are watching Fox News, reading articles from Vox, or consuming CNN; every bit it of it is specifically crafted to get you outraged…because that’s how media gets paid.

It’s a vortex of flaming shit.

RGB3x3,

I disagree about Vox, most of what I see from them is fairly straight reporting with an obvious left-leaning bias. But as far as I can tell, they don’t embellish facts and as far as clickbait goes, it’s way way better than most news outlets.

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/881e4887-db60-45b6-9890-789ed96d1046.png

This is their front page right now. Their headlines are refreshingly straightforward.

Haggunenons, (edited )
@Haggunenons@lemmy.world avatar

I didn’t want to read this article, and couldn’t find a video about this article about a video from the media about how the media is spending too much time covering trump, but here is the original video that is about how the media is spending too much time covering trump that this article is about.

Edit: for clarity sake, that link is just to the Jon Stuart video that this article is talking about.

Ghostalmedia,
@Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world avatar

Jessica Williams‘ rebuttal was kind of legit though. Everything else in the news is miserable, and this case is pretty funny. Involves an orange jackass, a porn star, and opening testimony from a dude named pecker. Maybe is ok to have some trash reality TV at Trump’s expense.

Mongostein,

Sure, but that’s not what I want from the news.

lennybird,
@lennybird@lemmy.world avatar

Eh it’s 24/7 news.

Jon nailed it that covering this stuff isn’t necessarily an issue unless something more important comes up.

And sure we could say these news outlets could cover a range of topics if not just teach civics when nothing is happening… But they’re viewer/profit driven.

Mongostein,

But they’re viewer/profit driven.

That’s the problem right there.

lennybird,
@lennybird@lemmy.world avatar

Absolutely. I didn’t mean to sound like I’m excusing it as Jon also noted the problem is how everything is a crisis and breaking news and it just exhausts what actually is urgent.

Ghostalmedia,
@Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world avatar

Even when I’m consuming my straitlaced NPR, I do enjoy a little Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me making fun of this case. Tragedy straight is pretty crushing. I need some comedy to sprinkled in so I don’t give up in complete despair.

Mongostein,

Sure, and you can get that from shows like The Daily Show on The Comedy Network.

The news is supposed to be informative.

Ghostalmedia,
@Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world avatar

The news has had stuff like this in it since the dawn of the printing press.

IMHO, the problem isn’t infotainment, it the quantity of infotainment.

ripcord,
@ripcord@lemmy.world avatar

consuming

nieceandtows,

They don’t care. As long as they get financial gain out of it, they don’t mind. Whether Trump gets acquitted or convicted, they have their hands full covering either side’s outrage for the next few years.

yesman,

Cable news’ job is to sell advertising. Nelson is the judge of how well their doing.

This is what’s so frustrating about neolibs like Jon. They think a call to honor, or perhaps some light regulation can reform capitalism. And even sillier, they imagine that a responsible cable news would somehow lead to an informed electorate.

This is an old schtick for Stuart. Fox News is crazy and CNN is stupid. Both sides, you guys. Please don’t look at the incentive structure behind the curtain.

magnetosphere,
@magnetosphere@fedia.io avatar

I think that’s one of the things people like about Jon Stewart - the idealism. You’re right, though. You can’t make capitalism change by ignoring it.

fartington,

Who is Nelson Stuart?

rezifon,

Even if all that is true, Stewart is still 100% correct here

PP_BOY_,
@PP_BOY_@lemmy.world avatar

Neolibs don’t know that money is the only factor in what’s right and wrong

My guy, what? Do you know what neoliberalism is or what it’s stance is w/r/t what private organizations should and shouldn’t do to make money?

I generally don’t even like Jon Stewart but the idea that he’s taking a neolib stance here is ridiculous

psmgx,

Literally textbook deflection and whataboutism. And within the first 3 posts, which means it has a 70-80% chance to derail a thread, assuming regular rebuttals

Viking_Hippie,

Nelson is the judge of how well their doing.

So they’re frantically trying to avoid this?

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/da35a346-d990-4a36-9ef9-d07ac40a93ce.jpeg

gravitas_deficiency,

Cable news’ job is to report the news.

A few decades ago, we had this thing called Fairness Doctrine, which more or less forced news organizations to behave as, well, news organizations first and foremost. But then Reagan decided we didn’t need to worry about that anymore, and Fairness Doctrine was repealed, and the quality of news as a public service in the United States has declined precipitously since that point.

Buelldozer,
@Buelldozer@lemmy.today avatar

The Fairness Doctrine never applied to Cable News, only stuff broadcast over public airwaves.

APassenger,

If cable didn’t kill the Fairness Doctrine, the internet would have, I think.

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