Back in October, Jon Stewart (host of Comedy Central’s Daily Show) appeared on CNN’s Crossfire, and called for the show’s cancelation. To quote a comment on Slashdot:

I did watch the show yesterday thought and it was awe inspiring, especially because it was live and they kept coming back from the commercial breaks for another beating. I especially liked it when they were in Rapidfire and Stewart ignored the gong until they gave up on it.

So anyway, Stewart’s main point was that merely repeating talking points and analyzing how things “play” — rather than statements themselves — is actually a disservice to the public. I would add that obsessive coverage of the trail du jour — OJ, Peterson, whatever — is just as silly.

It seems that the new head of CNN US listened. Phil Rosenthal has this little quote in the Chicago Sun-Times:

On Wednesday, CNN’s Klein told the AP, “I guess I come down more firmly in the Jon Stewart camp” and would prefer a more substantive discussion of current events and controversies.

“I doubt that when the president sits down with his advisers they scream at him to bring him up to date on all of the issues,” Klein said. “I don’t know why we don’t treat the audience with the same respect.”

You really don’t think the president’s Cabinet meetings come with an audience ready to cheer, boo, applaud or hoot when prodded?

Apparently Klein wants to re-brand CNN as the hard-news, in-depth alternative to Fox and MSNBC.

I hope he does, because America really needs one of those. It’s sad to have to resort to BBC for in-depth coverage.