Jon Stewart's 2009 Criticism of CNBC - Reactions To The Interview

Reactions To The Interview

Much of the exchange including the interview had become a viral internet meme by March 13, and Stewart was given positive reactions by many mainstream media sources, with certain newspapers such as the San Francisco Chronicle and New York Times portraying Stewart as "winning" the debate. A blog by Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune website was titled "Stewart cleans Cramer's clock", and ABCNews.com titled an article on the confrontation "Jon Stewart Wins Cramer Showdown". The New York Times reported that, "For his part, a chastened Mr. Cramer, much more subdued than on his own show, took turns apologizing, defending his past coverage and promising to try and get back to the basics of financial reporting in the future."

News outlets generally hailed Stewart's journalistic integrity during the interview. A mention in Newsweek reported, "Cramer's excuse: CEOs lied. Stewart's retort: act like a real journalist. Stewart did." James Fallows of The Atlantic contended that, "Stewart, without excessive showboating, did the journalistic sensibility proud." Director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism Tom Rosenstiel stated his belief that it was Stewart's ambiguous position between news and comedy that allowed him to call out CNBC so aggressively.

Referring to Stewart's interview with Cramer, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, "I enjoyed it thoroughly." He added that he had spoken with President Barack Obama on the day before about watching the show, but that he "forgot to e-mail and remind him that it was on", so he could not tell whether Obama had seen the segment.

Some sources also felt that Stewart's anger was a reflection of a general attitude held by the American public, such as Jon Friedman of Marketwatch. David Folkenflik of NPR stated,

At times, Stewart crystallizes the frustration others have with the failings of the media with near-perfect pitch. It's one thing for media critics like me to pore through hundreds of articles to say the press didn't quite do its job as a watchdog of the nation's financial system. It's another for Stewart to cudgel a channel that has often championed the markets at a time when so many people have lost so much of their net value.

Others felt that Stewart's anger was unwarranted or misdirected. Richard Cohen of The Washington Post called it a "cheap shot at business media". In an article from The Daily Beast, Tucker Carlson, whose own cable television show was cancelled after a similar encounter with Stewart on Crossfire in 2004, criticized Stewart for having illogical arguments. Carlson also implied that Stewart was attacking CNBC because he was unwilling to go after the new Democratic administration as he had in the past with the administration under George W. Bush.