I’ve been away from blogging for a few days — take one road trip, add interviews and save all remaining time to concentrate on watching my beloved Boston Red Sox — but have noted with interest the media’s take on Jon Stewart’s "Crossfire" appearance last Friday. Initial stories played up the on-air "debate." Follow-ups from the TV critics played up either the blog commentaries or pointed out that Stewart might actually have a valid point. Funny, it took a fake news guy to tell the real news people about the failings of another supposedly real news program. For now, it has derailed the usual media cycle, which upon anointing Stewart as the IT guy, then goes about bringing him back down. As they did with Howard Dean, Paris Hilton and everyone else who captures the public’s attention. Pump them up, then blow them up. That’s the media way.
Watch the "Crossfire" footage here.