In ‘Daily Show’ Role on 9/11 Bill, Echoes of Murrow

[Big Don]

December 26, 2010
In ‘Daily Show’ Role on 9/11 Bill, Echoes of Murrow

By BILL CARTER and BRIAN STELTER

NEW YORK TIMES EXCERPT:

Did the bill pledging federal funds for the health care of 9/11 responders become law in the waning hours of the 111th Congress only because a comedian took it up as a personal cause?
And does that make that comedian, Jon Stewart — despite all his protestations that what he does has nothing to do with journalism — the modern-day equivalent of Edward R. Murrow?
Certainly many supporters, including New York’s two senators, as well as Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, played critical roles in turning around what looked like a hopeless situation after a filibuster by Republican senators on Dec. 10 seemed to derail the bill.
But some of those who stand to benefit from the bill have no doubt about what — and who — turned the momentum around.
“I don’t even know if there was a deal, to be honest with you, before his show,” said Kenny Specht, the founder of the New York City Firefighter Brotherhood Foundation, who was interviewed by Mr. Stewart on Dec. 16.
That show was devoted to the bill and the comedian’s effort to right what he called “an outrageous abdication of our responsibility to those who were most heroic on 9/11.”
Mr. Specht said in an interview, “I’ll forever be indebted to Jon because of what he did.”
Mr. Bloomberg, a frequent guest on “The Daily Show,” also recognized Mr. Stewart’s role.
“Success always has a thousand fathers,” the mayor said in an e-mail. “But Jon shining such a big, bright spotlight on Washington’s potentially tragic failure to put aside differences and get this done for America was, without a doubt, one of the biggest factors that led to the final agreement.”
Though he might prefer a description like “advocacy satire,” what Mr. Stewart engaged in that night — and on earlier occasions when he campaigned openly for passage of the bill — usually goes by the name “advocacy journalism.”
There have been other instances when an advocate on a television show turned around public policy almost immediately by concerted focus on an issue — but not recently, and in much different circumstances.
END EXCERPT
IT IS A COMEDY SHOW:tantrum::angry::rpo::flammad::bird::cuss:
How sad is it that the vaunted New York Times is comparing a comedian to Edward R Murrow?

 

[Steve]

*Sigh* I feel like a broken record, but it's precisely because Jon Stewart is a comedian that he can say and do things that the establishment cannot. He breaks the rules because he can, and because he can, he gets different results. The real trick for him is to not take himself too seriously and become a part of the institution.

I saw this particular episode. It's online if anyone else wants to see it. http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/thu-december-16-2010-mike-huckabee

I would really recommend that anyone who wants to comment on this article or this show actually take 20 minutes and watch it first.

 

[Tez3]

*Sigh* I feel like a broken record, but it's precisely because Jon Stewart is a comedian that he can say and do things that the establishment cannot. He breaks the rules because he can, and because he can, he gets different results. The real trick for him is to not take himself too seriously and become a part of the institution.

I saw this particular episode. It's online if anyone else wants to see it. http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/thu-december-16-2010-mike-huckabee

I would really recommend that anyone who wants to comment on this article or this show actually take 20 minutes and watch it first.

The court jester?

 

[granfire]

Well, I do agree that it's sad that the best news is found at a comedy show. But that is life.

 

[Steve]

Here's an excerpt from the same article:

Each network subsequently covered the progress of the bill, sometimes citing Mr. Stewart by name. The White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, credited Mr. Stewart with raising awareness of the Republican blockade.

Eric Ortner, a former ABC News senior producer who worked as a medic at the World Trade Center site on 9/11, expressed dismay that Mr. Stewart had been virtually alone in expressing outrage early on.

“In just nine months’ time, my skilled colleagues will be jockeying to outdo one another on 10th anniversary coverage” of the attacks, Mr. Ortner wrote in an e-mail. “It’s when the press was needed most, when sunlight truly could disinfect,” he said, that the news networks were not there.

Brian Williams, a friend and frequent guest on the show, added the following quote to the article. This articulates exactly what I saying before. He's riding a line between funny satire and taking a principled stand on various topics.

“Jon gets to decide the rules governing his own activism and the causes he supports,” Mr. Williams said, “and how often he does it — and his audience gets to decide if they like the serious Jon as much as they do the satirical Jon.”

 

[Touch Of Death]

While I applaud a bill being passed for the fire fighter of 9/11, this was clearly a big set up. First the republicans announce they won't vote on anything until certain conditions are met, second the Democrats put up the fire fighter bill, knowing the republicans had painted themselves into a corner. And, lastly it is now entertaining to watch the chess game unfold. John Stewart was just part of that game. It is hardly news at all.
Sean

 

[Steve]

The bill had been languishing in Congress for months. The Democrats weren't the ones who fillibustered the bill. The Republicans weren't set up any more than anyone in politics is ever set up.

 

[Touch Of Death]

The bill had been languishing in Congress for months. The Democrats weren't the ones who fillibustered the bill. The Republicans weren't set up any more than anyone in politics is ever set up.

True.