The death of Whitney Houston on Saturday was devastating to many fans, but Daily Show host Jon Stewart has a problem with how CNN surprised some people with the news.
Stewart said that The Daily Show would not be covering Houston’s death because the show could not give it the “right authority, class and grace” that it deserved.
“But you know what’s interesting?” he says. “Neither can CNN.”
Clips of a CNN reporter breaking the news of Houston’s death to random people are then shown. “You can’t just wander the streets with a camera crew surprising people who don’t know someone famous has died,” says Stewart after the clip is shown.
Stewart adds that the whole point of a news network like CNN is so that it can broadcast the news to the masses, and that “you don’t have to go with the news ‘town crier’ style, door-to-door.” He adds that CNN is giving the news the same way “they pass out nail salon coupons” in Times Square.
“That’s not right,” he adds. “What is the point? Is the point of CNN now to just show people going, ‘What?’”
“Because that’s the point of Candid Camera,” Stewart says.
There’s been a lot of disrespectful coverage of Whitney Houston’s death in the media. ‘Hats off’ to The Daily Show for keeping an eye on the ridiculousness that mainstream media outlets try to get away with. Not only does he add a dash of humor to what is hard to see as funny, but he really calls folks to task without actually being a journalist
Houston died at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday at the age of 48. She was due to make an appearance at Clive Davis’s Grammy eve gala on Saturday night at the Hilton. On Sunday, the Grammy Awards featured a special tribute to the singer, with Jennifer Hudson singing “I Will Always Love You.”
