Archives » Monday, March 16, 2009
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Kurt Soller
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Mar 16, 2009 04:39 PM
Last week, the business network CNBC was the latest target of the
economic meltdown. It all came to a head when the face of network, "Mad
Money" Jim Cramer, appeared on the Daily Show to defend himself in
front of Jon Stewart. In our Signal or Noise poll,
we asked readers whether Stewart's insistence that the biz press failed
us was legitimate or a ploy for great ratings. The results of the poll?
Readers thought Stewart's smackdown was more than warranted, saying that Cramer's in the tank with Wall Street, not the public.
"All signal folks," wrote one reader. "We have been waiting to hear this from someone -- anyone -- and for it to come from Stewart? Great."
Many others praised the comedian, calling him everything from a God to
the greatest and most serious journalist of our generation. "Stewart has exposed Cramer for what he really is: an entertainer in the investment field," wrote commenter sverigeman, while others added that "Cramer looked like he was going to cry," and that this was "the most damning indictment of the financial news networks ever heard." In the end, many thought the debate was warranted, if only because it got to a larger point that supported Stewart's attack: "Stewart's
attack was on the media for not doing the jobs the media used to be
paid for - not taking things a face value, but investigating to get to
the truth of the matter," explained one reader.
But should Cramer (or Erin Burnett, or any other CNBC host) really be
blamed for a systematic meltdown of our financial system? Of course
not, said one reader, who argued that "Cramer
is a scapegoat being used to divert from other sources that has just as
much responsibility to inform the American people." A reader that goes by MT2910 also came to the stock-picker's defense, adding that "Cramer
is only one man... the media does not create or write the policies that
allowed the banks to over-leverage themselves and write sub-prime
mortgages." Just as many thought it was definitely time to find
someone to place the blame on, scores of readers think that idea, in
itself, signals how we're feeling: "The American people want to blame somebody for their pain," writes one reader. "Since
they can never find a real culprit, they were settle for the closest
thing they can get. Cramer, with his juvenile antics, and pretensions
to know-it-all, makes the perfect target."
Did you hear that, Ben Affleck? Maybe you can stop blaming Newsweek now.
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