The dust has settled following Jim Cramer’s appearance with Jon Stewart on last Thursday’s edition of The Daily Show. We’re posting the first part of the interview here, courtesy of The Daily Show (also, unedited and thus Daily Show coarse). If you’re as intrigued by the exchange as we were at the end of the first segment, you can click on part two to continue. A couple of thoughts…
The term hubris derives from ancient Greek as excessive pride or self-confidence. In the Greek tragedies hubris inevitably sets in motion the events which lead to a character’s nemesis and inescapable comeuppance. Think Oedipus.
In the first century of Christian faith, James spoke to the danger of hubris:
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. — James 4:13-17
Much later The Book of Common Prayer framed the morning and evening prayers of confession this way:
Almighty and most merciful Father,
we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep,
we have followed too much the devices and desires of our
own hearts,
we have offended against thy holy laws,
we have left undone those things which we ought to
have done,
and we have done those things which we ought not to
have done.
But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
spare thou those who confess their faults,
restore thou those who are penitent,
according to thy promises declared unto mankind
in Christ Jesus our Lord;
and grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake,
that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life,
to the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.
…We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts…
…We have left undone those things which we ought to have done…
…And we have done those things which we ought not to have done…
Spoken honestly, there’s really nothing wrong with these admissions as starting points for rebuilding trust between ourselves and everyone affected by the way we do business. Because, as Mr. Stewart spelled out so passionately, this is not a game.
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No, he was not playing, he was being honest.
By the time Mr Cramer and Stewart sat down together, I thought things got pretty honest. I think it is remarkable that the comic is the one who issued the challenge for purveyors of business news to be serious about the business of business. Court Jester is by no means a dead profession.
My guess is that the medium of TV adds to Cramer’s plight. As he stated, he has to fill 17 hours per day with "quality information," apparently with some guy in his pajamas writing out scripts. TV, unlike books and newspapers, demands speed and immediacy. Without a huge staff, you can bet that either the accuracy will decline or the superficiality will increase, or both. Who really has enough knowledge to fill 17 hours a day with quality information?
I think so; Glenn…more evidence that the medium is the message. Nothing wrong with television but, "There is," as the man said, "nothing subtle about TV." I find it interesting that part of what Jon Stewart objects to so strongly is the hyperbole signified by slogans like, "In Cramer We Trust." I think that’s part of the outrage lots of people feel about this whole thing — we’ve been lied to and cheated by financial sector leaders who said, "Trust us! We know what we’re doing!"
Glenn,
Cramer does a one hour show with the help of one writer, (and probably a producer and some others) not 17 hours. CNBC the business channel on which his show is aired has to fill 17 hours, and no doubt has a host of people to do it with.
It’s easy to criticize in hindsight. I love John Stewart but it would have been more impressive if this exchanged occurred last year.
To be fair to Cramer, he’s clearly stated on his shows he’s not always right and for people to do their own homework.
It’s a financial advice show, so who would take it for the “truth”? It’s on the level of Oprah for me. It might provide some insight or information, but I’m not going to live by her words or Cramer’s.
Don’t you say that about Oprah–you take that back right now!
I think Stewart’s point is he runs a comedy show. Where were the people who work for what are, nominally, business news organizations? The indictment is not against Mr Cramer but against CNBC as a proxy for everyone who smelled or held their noses to keep from smelling the rat. I think that point stands.
Thanks to David for correcting my misinterpretation about filling 17 hours of airtime. I think my overall point still stands about TV. As a newspaper reporter, I had significant time to delve into the facts, check the facts, look at all the angles, interview multiple sources, and then rethink the story before sending it to an editor. We could wait and let breaking news develop before publishing. TV reporting is more pressured to get it on the air immediately. A lot of TV news, being a visual medium and more strictly bound by time constraints, usually presents information that’s more superficial.
Not there with you about Oprah or CNBC. They are a sliver of the cable TV eyeballs and they definitely do not move the stock market. They have had people like Peter Schiff and other naysayers giving us warnings, but I believe people prefer to listen to good news rather than bad news. I for one want to be depressed all the time and prefer bad news.
Completely kidding about Oprah; could hardly care less about CNBC. Still maintain that Stewart’s argument is solid: Where he works, fart jokes and funny faces — what you call your comedy — should be central. The place Cramer works claims to be “the recognized world leader in business news.” True or not, these are different value propositions.
Of course I know. I think the difference between myself and Stewart is in what is defined as “news” and “value.” I don’t see CNBC as the “truth” but as a data point of information. He’s giving CNBC way too much credit even if it’s for entertainment value… but he sounded somewhat serious, so I sort of thought he was ignorant.