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Video: Jon Stewart Goes Howard Beale on CNBC

by Peter Kafka
Posted on March 5, 2009 at 3:29 AM PT

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Sometimes Jon Stewart uses his platform to explain new technology, like Twitter or the Kindle, to his audience. And sometimes he uses it for a trenchant media critique. Or, as in the case of last night’s segment on GE’s (GE) CNBC, not so much a critique as a full-fledged evisceration.

I’ve trimmed this one down to about six minutes, but if you’ve got a spare 20 minutes or so–perhaps you’re underemployed right now–it’s well worth watching the whole thing. He also roughs up Fox News, explains the Dow, and has a nice interview with New York Times columnist Joe Nocera.

Update: A MediaMemo reader wants to know who Howard Beale is. That question would normally make me feel old, but in this case I’m pretty sure the reader is older than I am. In any case, here’s Howard, also known as Peter Finch, also known as the “I’m mad as hell” guy. And if you really haven’t seen “Network,” go add it to your Netflix (NFLX) queue now.

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  • Funny stuff from the Daily Show. Most financial experts in the media are about as good as NFL draft experts. It may be fun to listen to them but you're not getting a lot of great info.
  • I don't agree with his politics, but this is funny stuff and mostly on target.

    The talking heads of investing are just as scatter shot as the talking heads of tech (ooops!).

    This is probably as much as his audience will ever know about the details of the "crisis", which is unfortunate.

    Missing is an honest discussion of the wisdom of government forcing banks to make these bad loans in the first place. That started in the 70s, accelerated in th 90s and again a few years back.

    I wonder why Stewart and his writers couldn't work in all the clips of Barney Frank saying the system was working as it should and didn't need to be investigated. Those are funny, even without surrounding commentary.

    It's also too bad we didn't have YouTube back in the days when the Feds were on the verge of putting Chevy Chase bank (a Washington DC based bank not related to the comedian) out of business for not giving out enough low quality loans.

    Of course at some point the only thing an ethical capitalist can do is refuse to do business in such an environment, for the alternative is ultimately to become the fall guy for legislative bungling.
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About Peter

Peter Kafka has been covering media and technology since 1997, when he joined the staff of Forbes magazine. Most recently, he has been the managing editor of the tech and media Web site, Silicon Alley Insider. Read more »

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