A New Hero
Now it's very rare for me to have a new hero. Of any sort: literary, comedic, musical. It just doesn't happen that often. But a friend sent me this link to a clip of Jon Stwewart on the right-wing debate show "Crossfire," and a new hero was been born. See, I've been interviewed by journalists before, and I've had plenty of friends who have also been on talk-shows or on the radio. And the thing is, the odds are always stacked in the interviewers favour if they don't like what you're saying (i.e. if you're left-wing), down to the point where Neil Mitchell and the rest of the shock-jocks just cut your volume off so you can't be heard. Course usually they don't need to, they've already got the questions lined up to screw you. So check out how Jon Stewart handles it. With so much dignity, no?
posted by rjurik at
1:56 AM
3 Comments:
Jon Stewart represents all that is good about America. Tucker Carlson is a slimey asshole. It really is that simple.
I witnessed the 2004 campaign first hand, and "The Truth" with a capital T was out there for all to see. Stewart and his ilk were frantically pointing to it the whole time, wondering why everyone else in the media was just blithely ignoring the substance of the issues and glossing over it with more and more shiny bullshit; meanwhile Stewart and the informed public grew more and more incredulous and frustrated by the 'machine' of image politics as the campaign wore on. The election of Bush (I'd say re-election, but he was appointed the first time around) was widely seen as a victory for the Image Machine, for style over substance, for loud, glitzy lies over the plain, obvious, boring truth, and that was all the more dispiriting.
Worst hangover of my life the next day, I tells ya.
Jon Stewart's awesome.. as was that clip.
Now are you familiar with the work of Stephne Colbert? If not check out his speech at the Correspondants Dinner:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=stephen+colbert+correspondants+dinner&search=Search
The first thing to learn - for those who deal with the media - from the clip is to take charge. Don't let them (in this case Tucker Carlson) choose the turf. I love how Jon Stewart does this from the very begining. Of course he's used to being on tv, so that helps. But also, he's quick enough to deal with the false questions too, like the comparison of his show to theirs. I watched it twice in a row because it made me happy.
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