Jon Stewart has a problem with the heads of major news organizations.
The comedian devoted the latest episode of his Apple TV+ show The Problem with Jon Stewart to examining the news media, particularly cable news, and he interviewed former Disney CEO Bob Iger, who oversaw ABC News. But on The Howard Stern Show, Stewart said he unsuccessfully attempted to get the current head of any news organization to come on and "defend their product," Mediaite reports.
"We tried very hard to get a person who runs a news division now to come on the show to speak publicly," Stewart said. "They all turned us down. Now, these are people who run news organizations, people that, their business model relies on access and transparency."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Stewart said he did hold some Zoom calls with individuals at news organizations about this but that these discussions never went anywhere.
Howard Stern called this revelation "amazing," but Stewart told him it's "not amazing, it's f--king crazy" that those who "work in an industry where the reason for being is to find out the truth and to illuminate the dark corners and to expose corruption" are not willing to "come on and allow that same scrutiny to be applied" to them and their "exploitative" business model.
Stewart did get to have a discussion with Iger, in which he noted that the heads of news divisions were "reluctant to speak" with him on the record. When asked why this might be, Iger said "there's a sense" that news organizations are "being scrutinized and being criticized in a way that they've never experienced before, and I think there's a bit of a bunker mentality that has set in."
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster showSpeed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
