Jon Stewart Shows C-SPAN How To Handle Racist Callers (VIDEO)

"The Daily Show" did an enjoyable segment about the recent on-air incident on C-SPAN, in which a caller from North Carolina went on a racist diatribe about how the network takes too many calls from black people and should thus be renamed as BLACK-SPAN.

What was very nice about the clip was the way Jon Stewart was not afraid to be servicey, offering host Bill Scanlan some advice on how to handle the situation. Like: don't just casually shuffle your papers, as if nothing is happening! Like: don't adopt a "the customer is always right" attitude about the racist idiot mumbling nonsense on your teevee show.

To demonstrate how Bill Scanlan was doing it wrong -- which is something I imagine Jeffrey Goldberg can appreciate -- Stewart helpfully scripted how calls like this should go in the future.

STEWART: Uh, we're going to take a call from St. Pauls, North Carolina. Yeah, Bill, what's on your mind?

CALLER: Yeah, I'd like to make a little respectful criticism here about C-SPAN.

STEWART: Okay, absolutely Bill, thanks very much, go right ahead.

CALLER: If you keep on with the way you have been programming you should change your name from C-SPAN to BLACK-SPAN.

STEWART: Yeah, I'm going to cut you off right there. Go fuck yourself.

Yeah, that's pretty much the right approach.

WATCH:

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Comments

[imfrightened]

08:37 AM on 04/06/2010

Most of these commentators are hired for their looks, not their brains.

[Threepointturn]

02:09 PM on 04/04/2010

The host should have said, "all right, that's enough. You cannot call back for 2 months, and don't even try using your wife's cell phone".

[Margo Arrowsmith]

08:14 AM on 04/04/2010

Spot on.

There really is no such thing as neutrality. Even Switzerland had its motivations, war profiteering.

So C Span, this is what you get. You try to be so neutral and what you end up doing is supporting the worst, just like Switzerland.

[larce1948]

04:11 PM on 04/03/2010

C-SPAN really bugs me. Calling themselves a "Public Service" they are funded by anyone who gets cable, satellite or fiber optic service. Their call in show decidedly leans to the right. They constantly feature guests from right wing think tanks and the Weekly Standard gets free publicity regularly. They have managed to remain aloof from criticism by banning any critics of their agenda or bias from appearing on their network.

[Gregor53]

01:44 PM on 04/03/2010

Another Pathetic response to a racist remark on Television. If one defends it and does not correct it, they too are part of the problem. Just keep throwing gas on those smodering embers and soon, there will be a big fire that "hosts" such as this help create and will not be able to control.

Love Jon and is insights.

[cincinnati]

04:39 AM on 04/03/2010

Stewart was a little over the top as he often is.

But he made a great point, that CSPAN, etc. should not put up with what obviously is hate or racist speech. After a certain respectful time, to really see where the speaker is going, they should not just shut them off but hit back a bit.

They seem to put up with, on average, more nuts from the right than the left [but there's many more of them too of course...]

[dct1999]

07:37 PM on 04/02/2010

I was watching the call-in show and viewed this incident as it occurred. A few minutes later another caller took the CSPAN host to task for allowing the rcist f^ckwad to spew his hate and ignorance.

The host then goes into an amazingly stupid defense of the original caller by claiming that he was upset by people calling in on the wrong line.

But there's no racism in the 21st century, right.

[flossophy]

08:07 PM on 04/02/2010

There's r@cism all around the planet.

Welcome to the 21st century.

We probably need thicker skin so we can all rub along together.

[dct1999]

08:09 AM on 04/03/2010

No kidding, there's really racism all over the world? Who would have guessed?

Your dismissal of racism (which you know absoluely nothing about) is wholly predictable.

[Gregor53]

11:21 AM on 04/04/2010

Calling on the wrong line? Does the host not realize there are also Black Republicans. Who is the Chairman of the National Republican Party...DUH!

[dct1999]

07:24 PM on 04/02/2010

Reason # 1000 for why John Stewart is the man.

[Rayven]

04:59 PM on 04/02/2010

The commentator actions and how he responded to the caller were to say the least pathetic, and despicable. The caller (there are of course other words to describe that person) is pathetic for his illiterate and plain vile comment........

[slash77]

11:45 AM on 04/02/2010

Even more important is that this ‘caller’ is absolutely clueless that he is a ‘Racist’ and he thinks he is using facts to back up his ‘opinion’

[stencil62]

10:56 AM on 04/02/2010

I love John Stewart!

[bl8ant]

10:14 AM on 04/02/2010

i always wondered what happened to my dad. hi dad!

[Azrael1701]

10:09 AM on 04/02/2010

C-Span is very difficult to watch and Stewart really makes a good point that by not being tougher with prank callers and racists will make them as ridiculous as the PBS call-in shows. Kudos Stewart, that was hilarious!

[cyoohoos]

09:14 AM on 04/02/2010

You really should hear the caller in totality to understand just how ridiculous the he was....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YRQlUsdA3U

[Sammy124]

09:59 AM on 04/02/2010

That aint much racism, check this one out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwvEWlEv5f4

[coloradodreaming]

08:36 AM on 04/02/2010

I have never watched C-Span talk show and at first I thought it was a put on. The moderator did every thing but fall asleep on the desk. Is this really representative of the content? So much fodder for SNL and Jon. Do they really allow people to say anything in their warped mind and then thank them for calling? Guess I could check it out myself but that would be hours lost in a very precious day.