Jon Stewart, Fox News Trade Barbs

From the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz:

DENVER, Aug. 25 -- Jon Stewart ripped the cable news networks Monday as a "brutish, slow-witted beast" and castigated Fox News as "an appendage of the Republican Party."

Wearing a gray T-shirt and a healthy stubble, the "Daily Show" host told reporters that Fox's fair-and-balanced slogan is "a (expletive) you to people with brains" and that only "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace "saves that network from slapping on a bumper sticker . . . Barack Obama could cure cancer and they'd figure out a way to frame it as an economic disaster."

"I'm stunned to see Karl Rove on a news network as an analyst," he said of the Bush White House aide-turned Fox commentator.

A Fox News spokesman replied that "Jon's clearly out of touch," citing a Pew study showing the network has the most balanced audience in cable news, 39 percent Repubicans and 33 percent Democrats. "But being out of touch with mainstream America is nothing new to Jon as evidenced by the crash and burn ratings of this year's Oscars telecast."

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Comments

[BinBaldwin]

Apparently Stewart-Liebowitz has no Brain or he would see Olbernamm NEVER has opposing views on his show. Or that the CNN panel of Blitzer, Malveaux , Jeff Towbin and Cafferty with Roland Martin on occassion has NO BALANCE. But if you want to see REAL DEBATE between Liberal and Conservative, Hannity vs Rev Wright or Lanny Davis . O'Reilly vs a Liberal every night You have no choice but to watch FOX NEWS No other news channel offers as much REAL DEBATE between left and right. I will debate this issue with ANYONE ,

[siberia9]

You've got to be kidding me. If you call cutting and pasting and editing a "liberal"'s words out until it's practically the exact opposite of what that "liberal" said; if you call taking speech out of so much context that it might as well be beamed in from Mars - if you call all of that "debate," then no wonder you're a Fox viewer - and a permanent student of kindergarten.

[NeldaDee]

You're the digger, right? Doing a research paper on blogging today? Wanna know who'll bite? Bite me.

[RobVukovic]

If you truly want balanced debate, tune into the Jim Leherer news hour.

[Criticalthinktank07]

Are you kidding me!!!! Hate-ity and O'Really! Those to blow hards don't let their guests get a word in edgewise particularly if they have an opposing view. The only thing they know how to do is espouse hate! Just say NO! To FIXed NEWS!!! You must be a relative.

[yngcelt]

As if that's any different than any host on Air America!

[Criticalthinktank07]

If they let the liberal bet a word in edgwise. But I doubt it

[ouroborous]

O'Reilly has never done "real debate" in his life.

His idea of debate consists of pontificating and screaming over top of his guests (victims).

It was fun to watch Stewart on O'Reilly's show because Stewart quietly and masterfully skewered O'Reilly, and Bill-O was too thick even to realize that he'd been owned.

[frankm]

Funny. Fox news was complaining http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/24/fox-news-ad-targets-cnns_n_121026.htmll) that CNN was skewed toward Democrats. Pot calling kettle. Come in kettle.

[ThinkByYourself]

I don't know why Democrats keep fighting and wasting energy with Fox news, you have your own Fox News. If you don't like the coverage of Fox tuned into MSNBC where the lefties are running the show. If you want a centrist point of view that leans to the left sometimes watch CNN. There is stuff for everybody, I think the problem Democrats have with Fox is that they actually higher ratings than the other two combined.

Also stop fighting about News networks they all suck and are unwatchable. People need to get out of the 24 HR news cycle that is deadly, I for one don't watch either stupid network, as I said before they all SUCK.

[Darsan54]

Not all of us can afford to travel to Denver, or Washington DC, meet with major political candidates, subscribe to a dozen different newspapers (Oh, does news suckiness extend to the print media?), or do all our own investigative journalism. But then you probably rely on the incredibly accurate and well research blogs entries from "gentlemen" sitting in their underwear in front of computer screens.

[nyyankee70]

Apparently you are not thinking by yourself or maybe that's the problem. The reason Faux' ratings have been higher over the years (although they have been in steep decline for awhile now) is because, intelligent people have many options whether it be CNN, MSNBC or the regular networks for commentary and such. The lowbrow, almost neaderthal-like people who back this administration nd the republican party only go to faux news, which everyone knows is closely tied to the republiCANT machine. BTW, MSNBC is not as left wing as many people claim or I would like to see it become. We need a total opposite alternative for liberals. The only difference between FAUX and MSNBC would then be that FAUX would rely on the continued stupidity and ignorance of its viewers and backers while MSNBC would give you the real deal.

[Schallvain]

I keep seeing this so I decided to comment: Do you realize that faux is pronounce "foe". It is french, like from the country France (just making sure you didn't think I was talking about dressing.)

[BBackSoon]

When Fox issues a statement calling you ‘Out of touch’, it must mean you hit a nerve.

Nicely played Mr. Stewart, Nicely played.

[NeldaDee]

I am so sick of hearing people "come up with" the crazy notion that news programs all ('cept Fox News and a small handful of others) lean to the left. OF COURSE THEY LEAN TO THE LEFT!!! If you believe in Free Speech, and you're a journalist (!) you're probably going to lean to the left. Big hairy duh. The real journalists are just trying to get the truth out, while the false journalists are trying to sell airtime. Fear sells. Truth is old and boring. Getting the real message out is harder than ever when the Fox "News" junkies toggle between Springer and Rove.

[plooger]

"reality has a well-known liberal bias."

[Furby]

Canada has a station that is publicly funded through taxes (well at least two thirds of it), not publicly funded through donations like PBS. What results from this formula is that they are not beholden to anyone. The news sounds quite different on CBC than it does on NBC or FOX, more like the BBC. It spends as much time looking at the world as it does looking at Canada. Another novel thing about the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is that when they express opinions, they call them editorials, not reports.

[enaught]

Democrats watch FoxNews to build their outrage. It's much the same way many religiosos listen to Howard Stern - not because they like him - but to be outraged and find things to take issue with. The news on FoxNews can no longer be considered journalism when anchor Megyn Kelly can actually CHANGE the words Michelle Obama used in here speech to raise questions about her patriotism. It seems that everyone but the people at FoxNews knows that they are in the Republican Party's hip pocket. (Maybe all the lint has blinded them...)

[Spud777]

enaught: Democrats, I think, for the most part probably do not watch Fixed Noise. (I never do). The one's that do watch are not trying to build their "outrage". Maybe they are a group of people that think “HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL” and the network will try to be “fair and balanced”, instead of being “unfair and unbalanced. There are more important things in this world than anger, like helping all Americans and People in the world who are less fortunate than us. If Fixed Noise wants to be simply a propaganda outlet for the republican party, shame on them.

[foxfan]

Even as a republican I would admit that Fox News leans to the right. What troubles me his JOn's one sided observation. Does he not see that many news outlets, especially MSNBC, lean to the left. His own show, while funny and balanced most of the time, can be decidedly liberal. Of course, I expect that from Hollywood.

[flyrod]

He rips on all the cable news networks pretty consistently (and with good reason in my view). I can't speak for Jon Stewart, but I would agree MSNBC is definitely left leaning. The thing is, they're not constantly claiming to be independent, fair, balanced, blah blah blah. Fox is, and they repeat that over and over. That's what's so absurd, and that's the difference.

Jon Stewart does a comedy show where his opinions are quite clear. He has no obligation, nor does he claim, to be independent or "fair".

[foxfan]

Excellent points. Thank you.

[wearyvoter]

The Daily Show featured the MSNBC interanchor debacle/implosion tonight, so they don't only pick on Fox.

[Minako]

It was the child who pointed out the emperor is naked, and it's the comedian that has to tell the "real" newsmen to get their act together.

[Le nombril]

That seems to be the standard Republican insult this year. Everyone who isn't a die-hard Republican enabler is "out of touch". This is hilarious to me. In 2004, it was anyone who wasn't a die-hard Republican enabler was "unpatriotic". It seems that any Republican talking point over the past 8 years will fit on a bumper sticker. It is all more than just a little predictable.

[Furby]

and yet, bellybutton, we just can't take our eyes off of it.

[MelArawak]

As I watch cable's coverage of the Democratic Convention I really miss the smart, intelligent reporting of NBC's Tim Russett. FoxNews, followed closely by CNN, is partly responsible for the decline in public discourse. They have taken misreporting, rumours, innuendos, xenophobia and reproduced them as if they were "news". But it is not just FoxNews, which really is Republican Party Broadcasting Network (Fox-RPBN) it is CNN as well. The evening commentators, beginning with Woolf Blitzer, Lou Dobbs, Anderson Cooper and Campbell Brown are shamelessly McCainites and/or stirring the pot about alleged tensions among Democrats. Too many Fox and CNN commentators feed on this nonsense like political junkies. Both Cooper and Brown, for example, reproduce silly rumours and stereotypes about Senator Obama rather than engage in research, show complexity of issues and different angles on same story. Anderson Cooper and Campbell Brown should be replaced by Soledad O'Brian and Suzanne Malveaux -- besides a little diversity in the evening would benefit CNN's coverage, and have people with real life experience of diversity reporting on the issues for an increasingly diverse country.

[Destin]

I hear ya on CNN's coverage, lol, I watched a few minutes last night, but couldn't take more than a few minutes. And people should point out that Campbell Brown's husband worked for W Bush and was best friends with Karl Rove. It's no wonder that no sooner than I had flipped over to see what their coverage was like, than Campbell Brown throws out propaganda by asking the "expert panel", "But how is Obama gonna win over these voters when he's said he's gonna raise their taxes, obviously that's not gonna be a very popular move", lol. Probably not exactly how she said it, but is essentially what she said. And I'm thinking "Aw c'mon, he said he'd raise taxes on the rich, which Bush has been lowering to almost 0 for the past 8 years, it's about damn time they pay their fair share for once in their lives!", but of course Campbell couldn't hear me, lol.

CNN is becoming more and more like Fox News, especially with registered Republican reporters like Lou Dobbs (was lifelong registered republican til 2006, still is in some way), Campbell Brown, Wolf Blitzer, Glenn Beck, Gloria Borger, etc.

About the only sane, rational employee that CNN has left, is the one that everyone thinks is not sane and rational, lol, Larry King.

[enlighteninglad]

But Lou is Mr. Independent!

I watched Dobbs for a while, till he started with that moniker. He made the most sense. Now it seems that he has to attack everyone to make it look like he doesn't take sides.

[Gusto2]

I totally agree with you. CNN should replace Cooper and Brown for O'Brian and Malveaux. Ms Brown is so biased, she smiles each time some one says something negative about Obama with her encouragement and lead of course.

[Arguman]

Tim Russett is still doing his commenting thing. It's Russert you are thinking of.

[ClicheRinpoche]

I didn't want to point this out. I was feeling mighty guilty over the baked potato I ate tonight, thinking I had helped destroy journalism. Thank goodness Tim Russett has escaped my fork.

I can't promise anything for tomorrow, though.

[loucreattie]

Very well said. Thank you.

[jaglon]

Bingo! I don't know what has happened to Anderson Cooper, he was so much better as a field reporter. All four seem content to finding the tiniest of minutia to turn into a mountain. I truly think they have been told by the corporate heads of the owners of CNN, who are in the communications industry which is much beholden to McCain, to softball it to McCain and hit the democrats. Their biggest thing right now is to make it look like that the democrats are going to have a civil war on the convention floor and, by God, if it doesn't happen, they are going to try and create it. I have lost nearly complete respect for Cooper. Dobbs is completely self-absorbed, Brown is shrill and Blitzer is both shrill and ignorant.

[cnick]

Finally, the truth from the only "truth-teller" who can get away with it.

[carlitt]

Sick and tired of MSNBC and CNN and FOX . All biased and big egos thinking the Democratic Convention is about them. They dont even let the viewers watch the convention. They only let us watch one or two speakers that "they" think we want to hear and they are dead wrong. So I switched to CPAN and called my family and told them I discovered CPAN was covering EVERYTHING.
These major networks need to get out of the way and just report what we want to see or risk losing ratings themselves. Good for you Jon Stewart. Nice to know someone out there has noticed the same thing we have.
Barre, Mass

[enlighteninglad]

Jon is "THE most insightful pundit" on TV right now and probably will retain that title (given by me, for me) for quite sometime. He is a clear thinker, genuinely cares, is witty and honest and can cut through the BS because he doesn't have any agenda. He da man!

Second is Keith Olbermann. (He's a bit full of himself but he has a lot more reason to be than O'Really and the piglet Rove.)

[Exit]

FOX News does more damage to this country than Muslim Terrorists because they do it 24 hours/day. That are keeping those idiots in the red states even more stupid.

[ivegotblisteronmefingers]

I am not now nor have I ever been a listener/viewer of fox "news". Nor would I ever be. I have too much respect for journalism. Murdoch's people of course don't even know what that word means. NI has more fact checkers!!! That alone should say it all!!!

[khaleef49]

He is absolutely correct. FOX news is out of touch which is why I stopped watching it.