Jon Stewart calls the media's bluff

Those who are familiar with Jon Stewart's Daily Show on Comedy Central, the show presents a much better version of news than that presented by mainstream news programs on CNN/Fox/NBC. Even though the show bills itself as a fake news show presented by those who have no credibility to lose. Jon Stewart presents viewers with the absurdity of the way news is presented by media and while presenting his take on the day's events, he brings out the contradictions and ironies - It's funny, but sadly it calls your attention to the terrible state of News in America.

On Friday, Jon made an appearance on CNN's Crossfire, apparently to promote his new book, but instead he took opportunity of the live telecast to dig Carlson and Begala news holes that they will feel the pain of, for a long long time. Stewart said that they were forgetting their roles as journalists and presenting theater instead of news. "How old are you" he asked Carlson. "35". "And you still wear a bow tie?" Stewart finished by calling Carlson "as big a dick on your show as you are on any show".

Come on, think about it - News channels are supposed to present news so that we don't have to dig around for the truth. The average person on the street gets his/her news from the nightly news which does an excellent job in educating Americans about the cat that was rescued on 58th and Broadway, and the 7-11 that was held up in who-cares-where. Real news gets lost somewhere in between. It is ridiculously ironic to see the channels brag about their Jetsons-esque technology when they only use it for stuff that should really reside in the inside pages of a tabloid.

And the truth? The media is so hung up on being 'balanced' that if person A says something, they go find person B who can counter that. There is little research into what the truth really is - it is deemed enough to just present two opposing views on everything and let the viewer figure out the truth for themselves. Present any view that you like, but don't present 'spins' as truth! It was really heartening to see Jon call their bluff on their show. Crossfire later called Jon 'mis-informed' and a 'pompous ass'. Jon had the final laugh on his show the week after. "They said I wasn't being funny. And I said to them, 'I know that, but tomorrow I will go back to being funny, and your show will still blow.' "

Oh, and talking about television, I saw a part of Montel while getting out of the house yesterday. The show was about a woman who had trained her Chihuahua to ride a motorbike. Like anyone cares a sparrow's fart about that.

Way to go Jon, we need more people like you!