Jon Stewart smacks the media for chasing Clinton's van, oversharing police killings

Jon Stewart lectures the media on chasing Clinton, oversharing police shootings

(Image credit: The Daily Show)

published 16 April 2015

"Seriously, guys, what are we doing here?" Jon Stewart asked of the news media on Wednesday night's Daily Show, implicitly placing himself inside the TV journalism category and setting it up for a good tongue-lashing. First on his agenda was the embarrassing spectacle of reporters chasing Hillary Clinton's "Scooby Van" in Monticello, Iowa, on Tuesday, hoping for a shot of her... leaving the van and entering building?

"Last time anyone in Iowa was this excited about a wheeled vehicle, the Wells Fargo Wagon was bringing instruments they'd ordered from a charismatic stranger," Stewart quipped, showing off his keen knowledge of musical theater. "There are a lot of good reasons for you to be chasing a van," he added, like "if the van, perhaps, was the Good Humor truck, and you were 5."

Then Stewart put on his serious media criticism hat, pleading with news networks to stop casually and gratuitously replaying video footage of police killing people, saying that repetition robs the images of their potency and dehumanizes the victims. "We've got to nip this trend in the bud, because unlike Blockbuster, these types of videos aren't going away," he said. "The ubiquity or cellphones is far outpacing police awareness of the ubiquity of cellphones." Well, at least for now. Watch below. —Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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