Jon Stewart's Television Agenda to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Jon Stewart has given the American public a TV show that allows people to openly make jabs and speak freely towards their American democracy. An American Democracy that has been so nit-witted in their approach to put their country back on track to being the greatest in the world. Jon Stewart has been a pioneer in the world of bringing political satire and television together as a place to vent about the governments inability to do their jobs well.

When I look at one of Jon Stewart's most radical television movements to bring about change, I get reminded of his October of 2004 appearance on the CNN debate show Crossfire with Tucker Carlson. On the show, Stewart flips the script on the producers and points the basis of his arguments back on the show itself. Instead of being the comical funny-man, as he is on his own The Daily Show, his verbal attack stemmed from his opinion that the show did nothing to inform the people about current political news. The 14 minute long rant is posted below (for your viewing pleasure) and gives a glimpse into the personality traits that make Stewart a great shaper of public opinion.

After watching that Interview, I opened our class book and read a little more into the Trait Approach to see what important traits Stewart shows during his speech that made him come off as such a strong, informative leader of public opinion. Table 2.2 in our textbook (pg. 19) ,Leadership Theory and Practice by Peter G. Northouse, there are a list of 5 major leadership traits that "individuals hope to posses or wish to cultivate if they want to be perceived by others as leaders." Those traits are as follows: intelligence, self- confidence, determination, integrity, and sociability. It is hard to say that after watching Stewart verbally overthrow these CNN show hosts after 14 minutes that he lacks any of these important traits. He shows extreme intelligence about political theory and upkeep on current events. He is extremely self-confident in his ability to express his disgust for the talk show, and his opinion that their show is "hurting America" with their useless talk instead of honest debate. Stewart shows extreme integrity when comparing that his show is "introduced by puppets making crank calls", instead of their honest debate show airing on CNN. Although the book defines sociability as having "pleasant social relationships", Stewart did show sociability in the interview although I am sure the TV show hosts wouldn't summarize his guest appearance as very pleasant.

Stewart was able to sway public opinion so much that in January 2005, CNN president Jonathan Klein cancelled CNN's Crossfire show. Klein referenced Stewart's ability to make valid points about " the noise level of these types of shows, which does nothing to illuminate the issues of the day". Jon Stewart went out of his way to accept an invitation as a guest on a debate show, and the traits he brought to the show made his opinion heard, and ended up being a large part in the cancellation of the show. Was Stewart too tough on the Crossfire hosts? Was there something Stewart could have done more positively to get his point across? Was Stewart a good model in persuading public opinion? Was Stewart correct in the leadership action he took to express his dislike for the show? Many questions can be posed after watching the clip, but one thing is for certain, do not wear a bow-tie when you have a comedian on your talk show.

- Michael Mancuso Jr.