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A partial transcript of Jon Stewart on C-Span At Newhouse Press Breakfast, October 14, 2004, New York City A partial transcript of Jon Stewart on C-Span
At Newhouse Press Breakfast, October 14, 2004, New York City
A conversation between Jon Stewart and Ken Auletta of The New Yorker Magazine
NOTE: This is not a full transcript: Firstly, I m issed the first few m inutes of the broadcast. Secondly, I have
cut out som e parts that didnt seem as interesting. Also note, the conversational dialogue has been
cleaned up a bit to m ake it easier to read so technically this is NOT a raw transcript. (laughter) refers to
laughs com ing from the crowded room of press sitting at tables filling the room .
JON STEW ART:
I thought the debate last night was very interesting, in that I think they should have stopped at two. I really
think that they ran out of things to talk about . I rem em ber at one point about 45 m inutes inKerry just
turned and said, Did anybody see the OC last night? (laughter) That was a real sign that things had
slowly begun to wind down. I thought Bush was well coached, he wasnt angry Bush from the second
debate, or retarded bush from the first. (laughter)
[snip]
But Kerry could have ended it last night, and didnt, by deciding that Presidential was to ignore the odd
aura of un-reality that was em anating from the other podium .
[snip]
KEN AULETTA: So, to ask the favorite press question, who won? W ho won the debate?
JS: That is the favorite press question, and thats why people dont respond to it. Because its not a win
or a lose. The idea that theres an insta-poll, that people in Am erica will im m ediately digest whatever
scripted banter had just occurred right before them , enough to m ake a snap judgem ent about the winning
team of the debate, is absolutely to put it in pugilist term s is the m istake that is m adeto put it in those
term s of win/lose now Kerrys 2-in-1, hes 3-in-0. Its not the playoffs. Those were on another channel.
KA: Yesterday, Matthew Cooper of Tim e Magazine was held in contem pt by the Federal District Judge in
W ashington, as Judith Miller of the Tim es was last week
JS: First of all, as som eone who is held in contem pt by m uch of the country, its really not that badBob
Novak could end this whole thing tom orrowHe obviously knows the issue this thing has gotten way out
of hand. Its a sim ple issue.
[snip]
KA: Have you asked Novak on your show?
JS: Novak? No. I would not have him on. I have standards! (laughter) I would not have him onHe
shouldnt be on television CNN should not have him on the air. He should not be am ongst civilized
peopleLets face facts: this wasnt the Pentagon Papers. He didnt do som ething for the national good.
He didnt reveal a CIA source, and a CIA agent he did it for punitive reasons, for ugly partisan purposes.
KA: So you dont believe him when he says that he didnt know that she was not known?
Do you? (to audience) Do any of you? I m ean its a gam e we all play with each otherW e know why he
did it, and we know what he did. And this idea that we sit around and pretend that we dont seem s silly.
KA: You had a chapter in your book
JS: Dont go to the book m an I got your feet to the fire! (laughter) KA: (Ken looks down at his notes, then changes the subject)
[snip]
KA: But your chapter is called Dem ocracys Valiant Vulgarians. About the Press. W hat do you m ean?
JS: I m ean that the lowering of the discourse is done with tenacity. (laughter) The press has bravely and
nobly eroded the public trust, and I celebrate that.
KA: You also said on Charlie Rose recently about politicians, who you said seek above all else to retain
power. Quote: W hen you go to a zoo and see a m onkey throwing poop, you go, thats what m onkeys
do what are you going to do? Then you went on to say, W hat I wish the m edia would do m ore
frequently is say, Bad m onkey.
JS: The gist, the essence, to distill that...W hat Im advocating is that the m edia com e work for us again.
Rem ove them selves from the sym biotic relationship that they have developed with the power structure of
corporations and of the politicians(applause)
[snip]
It is altogether too com fortable. Look, were busy in the world. W e have things to do. The corporate
m entality and the political m entality is to create layers of obfuscation, that m ake it difficult to penetrate
whats going on. And that the m edia and the print m edia, by the way, is very different. Most of what Im
talking about is television. The print m edia is m uch better at providing context, but youre providing it a
week later and by then, everybodys m oved on. Thats the sad truth of it the world m oves m uch m ore
quickly now. The real responsibility now lies where the people set the agenda, and the agenda is set on
the 24 hour networks. And unless youre keeping up with them , and unless they are held to a certain level
of accountability, thats where the deficit lies.
[]
Its about holding to account, this idea that debate is two advocates for two corrupt organizations. To have
a Dem ocratic strategist and a Republican strategist is not a debate; thats Coke and Pepsi discussing
beverage suprem acy. And its not realwhat Im suggesting is, that the person m ediating that has to
have som e expertise. Has to have a job, and their job cant be W hat do you think Donna Brazile, OK
what do you think Bay Buchanan, well be right back. Thats not a job, thats doing nothing.
And its allowing two people to dom inate a debate that are strategists, and understand the television
press is getting their asses kicked, and theyre doing it willingly. And thats the thing that I think is so
frustrating to watch at hom e, because they have a roll, and they have a job, and theyre not doing it. And
that drives you insane when you watch.
[]
Everybody wrings their hands about Fox OK, m aybe they are not fair and balanced. But CNN used to
have the slogan You can depend on CNN. Guess what? I watch it no you cant. So, whats the
difference?
[snip]
This idea of liberal bias by the way, thats a strategy. Theres a difference between what Fox does which
is activism and a so-called liberal bias. If you watch the news networks, who would have covered the
war differently, as a network, if a Dem ocratic president was in office? Theres only one network that would
have, and thats Fox. So thats an activist stance.
The bias of the m edia is not liberal. Its lazy, and its sensationalist, but its not liberal. There is no active
strategy em ployed on Fox, an active strategy of advocating for conservative or right causes. [snip] But they [Fox] are part of an overall 30-year strategy of putting together a way to reconsolidate power. By the
way well within their rights, I dont have a problem with that, because I dont consider them news. I
consider them an active political arm .
KA: But when they say W ere fair and balanced, it doesnt bother you?You dont think thats false
advertising?
JS: Oh I absolutely believe its false advertising when did we start worrying about that? (laughter)
Thats m y point.
If the Presidential the election com m ercials are not held to that standard, why should news organizations?
W eve lost accountability.
And just because they are, why whine about it? W hy not create a television organization thats not liberal,
but credible? [Fox has] shown the way to a new paradigm , a new m edia paradigm . That this type of
program m ing can be successful, and profitableFox didnt com e out of the gate and earn its conservative
street credThey earned it over tim e, by presenting a narrative.
I dont think that narrative is helping, just like I dont think Al Jazeeras narrative is helping. I think it helps
m ake them popular, but I dont think it helps the country, I think theres a responsibility within the m edia to
help. But you could create a paradigm of a m edia organization that is geared towards NO BULLSHIT.
And do it actively. And stop pretending that we dont know whats going on, and stop pretending that its a
right-left question. I dont buy that the world is divided into bi-chrom atic thought like that.
[snip]
KA: W hen you fine tune the show, does everything run through you? Are you the quality control officer?
JS: I function, oddly enough, very sim ilarly to a m anaging editor at an actual television news place. W e
have an editorial m eeting in the m ornings the difference between our show and an actual news show is,
were not reporting anything. W ere just part of the digestive process, so we are writing stories about it.
But, we discuss it in the sam e way we just dont ever have anyone leave the building. ..W hen we finish a
show, the m eeting that night is about setting the stage for the next days editorial. Our day is basically
focused on getting as m uch m aterial as we canW ere writing, literally, up until tape tim e.
The m ost im portant editorial m eeting is p