CBS considering Jon Stewart for Evening News

[HootieMcBoob]

The main point of the article is about revamping the CBS Evening News but I thought the parts about Jon Stewart were especially interesting :)

...But Mr. Moonves said he was looking to install something more "cutting edge" this time. As part of the overhaul he indicated he would even consider a role for Jon Stewart of Comedy Central's "Daily Show." Mr. Stewart has emerged as both a late-night comedy star and a biting commentator on the news.

<snip>

Mr. Moonves said there might be a parallel with the evening newscast. One potential plan for the evening news is "to create less of that guy sitting behind the chair who is preaching from the mountain and do something much younger, more of an ensemble feeling," he said. "That's one of the possibilities we're looking into. We're looking at a lot of different ones."

Mr. Moonves said his thinking was quite broad at this point, as his consideration of Mr. Stewart made evident.

Mr. Moonves, who is also the a president of CBS's parent company, Viacom, noted that because Comedy Central is also owned by Viacom, Mr. Stewart is available for such consideration. "Jon Stewart is part of our company and we speak regularly about all sorts of different things," Mr. Moonves said.

<the rest> http://nytimes.com/2005/01/19/arts/television/19cbs.html

[Dawgs]

1. Jon Stewart would never do anything like this...

I think he's waiting for something more like what he's doing now, but a little bit more serious and a little bit more mainstream(David Letterman).

[Darknyte7]

4. Never?

Did you and Jon discuss this at happy hour last night?

[Dawgs]

24. Did you watch him on Crossfire, or hear him on AAR...

when talking about the media. It's just an opinion man. Get over yourself. I based this assertion on what I've heard him say on various news segments.

He sees the media as corporations, and crossfire type shows as unproductive. I like to think that he is better than that.

That's why I stated my opinion in that way.

[Darknyte7]

25. My only point...

is that "never" is an awefully long time. Perhaps you "doubt", "highly doubt" or even "seriously doubt" that he would make a move to the CBS Evening News. But I've learned that the word "never" should rarely be used, particularly when one is talking about what they think another might or might not do.

[paineinthearse]

2. Imagine

Jon Stewart in prime time?

Could he bring Samantha Bee, Louis Black, Rob Caudry, etc?

You know, I bet Cronkite would be supportive.

[Atman]

3. Hiring Stewart would only be for the purpose of shutting him up

Edited for typo

Why on Earth would Stewart accept a sell-out position as a "newsreader," when he actually does some good in the position he currently occupies?



New NBY Edition Just Posted

[Z_I_Peevey]

5. Exactly.

Memo to Jon Stewart: Do not do this. You will be muzzled and broken.

[stanwyck]

7. Agree

the best way to silence Jon's continued slow burn at the Bush Mafia's stranglehold on America is to hire him. Jon, listen to us. Don't let them buy you.

[Union Thug]

14. You're right. It's like Mr. Potter offering George Bailey a job =)

[HootieMcBoob]

10. I sort of don't think he would do it either

and I'm skeptical of course of what they have in mind, but he says that he's in touch with Jon Stewart and that they talk about things which can only be a good thing, in my opinion.

If Stewart has any influence on the situation and how they end up approaching the news and what they intend to cover it could only be good.

[eg101]

11. gee, do ya think he would do it for $10M a yr? Yah, I think so....

For those kinds of big bucks, Stewart will sell out in a New York microsecond.....

[mdhunter]

12. It's not as if he's hurting for cash now

And given that the guy takes more days off than any other professional entertainer I know of, I'd say he's got an ok gig at the ranch.

[oc2002]

6. mainstream media has REAL problems....no credability.

This is a long time in coming, but as Krugman put it in one of his editorials, the 'deregulation' or as I call it, the corruption of FCC laws has destroyed journalism standards in this country. The lead 'corrupters' are the media conglomerates that echo each other and want to create a revenue stream from traditional news departments instead of serving the public.

The want 'entertainment news' not real news.

[deutsey]

8. I think CBS is just using Stewart to get to the puppets on Crank Yankers

[Corgigal]

9. do something much younger

CBS doesn't get it. The Daily Show isn't about "young" it's about true, done with a satire twist. Sure young viewers watch it for the laughs but I bet the daily viewers are older and already know what corporate news has reported.

[aden_nak]

18. Yeah, but they have dick jokes, so that must be why they're popular.

Typical suit logic.

[MsTryska]

19. excellent.

i wonder if we could get moonves with a letter-writing campaign?

he's at a crossroads now, actually.

[m_welby]

13. stewert doing the nightly news?

LOL

cbs going after the stoner audience, that's unbelieveable.

-and don't flame me, Jon himself jokes about it all the time (ever since o'reilly said it).

[HootieMcBoob]

21. he jokes about it because of how stupid it made o'reilly look

if they're raising stewart's name for a spot on their nightly news-team it's because they're going after the educated, well informed people with a little more money to spend that will appeal to their advertisers.

[txaslftist]

15. O Please No.

John Stewart is an independent voice with a great deal of editorial liberty because he's a comedian on a comedy show.

Make him a journalist and he has to shill the same as the rest of them.

[smiley_glad_hands]

16. If this is what JS wants to do then I'm all for it.

Might actually watch the evening news for once.

[unblock]

17. he'd be great doing commentary

i can't see him pretending to be peter jennings, but i can see him doing a political commentary segment with an andy rooney sort of attitude, or something in between that and what he's doing now.

this doesn't havae to be a bad thing, and MAY be a great thing, BUT he Must be able to keep his integrity, otherwise he becomes ... dennis miller....

[Darknyte7]

20. Keen observation...

And to think that I once held Dennis Miller as a smart & funny guy...

[Minstrel Boy]

22. This reminds me of the final episode of "The Prisoner,"

in which No. 6 faces his final temptation from the Village: the offer to "lead us."

Jon Stewart should make Patrick McGoohan's choice, and blow the place up.

[IrateCitizen]

23. This all reminds me of a Simpsons episode...

The one in which Homer becomes a town whistleblower, finally setting his sights on the biggest safety hazard in Springfield -- the nuclear power plant.

Monty Burns convinces Homer to take a job as safety inspector at the power plant, knowing full well that Homer will be effectively neutralized for doing so.

I can't see Jon Stewart falling for this. Hell, he doesn't even consider himself a newsman -- only a comic who gets miles and miles of material in making fun of the news and our political figures. I'm sure he knows that he'd be effectively neutralized by doing "real" news instead of "fake" news, and that his "fake" news is actually more real than anything the "real" news has to offer.