Stewart Took a Cheap Shot at Cramer, CNBC

Even CEOs couldn't predict crisis, let alone analysts covering them
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 17, 2009 7:43 AM CDT
Stewart Took a Cheap Shot at Cramer, CNBC
In this March 12, 2009 file photo, Jon Stewart hosts a taping of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" in New York.   (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, file)

Jon Stewart’s pantsing of Jim Cramer was nothing but a “cheap shot,” writes Richard Cohen in the Washington Post. CNBC’s crew wasn’t covering up the impending crisis, and neither were the CEOs they interviewed. Many, including head honchos at AIG, Lehman Brothers, and Citigroup, lost fortunes investing in their companies. If they didn’t realize the stocks were doomed, “how was even Jim Cramer to know?”

Sure, CNBC, like most business media, was a “cheerleader for the zeitgeist." But even if financial journalists did know, what could they do? "They cannot barge into AIG and demand to see the books." Stewart "plays a valuable role," admits Cohen. "He mocks authority, which is good, and he mocks those, such as the media, who take the word of authority as if, well, it's authoritative. But given the outsize reception to his cheap shot at business media, he ought to turn his wit inward: Mocker, mock thyself." (More Jon Stewart stories.)

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