Jon Stewart launches mock Kickstarter to buy CNN
Jon Stewart has been a longtime critic of CNN, but when he heard the possibility that the cable news outlet might be put up for sale one day soon, he couldn’t resist the opportunity to imagine what it might look like under his control.
On Tuesday’s “Daily Show,” Stewart addressed 21st Century Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch’s $80 billion takeover bid for Time Warner, the company that owns CNN. While the proposal was rejected by Time Warner’s board of directors, there was much media speculation that Murdoch wouldn’t give up that easily. And if he owned Time Warner, he’d most likely sell CNN, since it would compete with his own Fox News.
The possibility of CNN for sale? Stewart’s mind reeled.
But to make things clear, the site he launched, www.LetsBuyCNN.com, may look like a Kickstarter page, but “The Daily Show” isn’t actually soliciting any money from its viewers. Stewart and company don’t actually think they’re going to reach their stated goal of $10 billion.
The website does allow you to peruse the many incentives Stewart and his writers invented for their fictitious investors, including $25,000 to take Molly with Fareed Zakaria and the chance to launch your own Hunger Games-style fight to the death between CNN anchors for a billion dollar contribution.
For those curious about Stewart’s thoughts on CNN and Murdoch, you can watch the entire segment here.
Follow me on Twitter: @patrickkevinday
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