Jon Stewart's Apple TV show ends; Apple execs resisted coverage of AI and China | Hacker News Reader

Jon Stewart's Apple TV show ends; Apple execs resisted coverage of AI and China

9to5mac.com

This should be a blaring wake-up call about the soft power of foreign meddling in Western politics through manufacturing chain leverage. The same company that placed half its hardware business under PRC jurisdiction, also wants to be a major media platform in the US, with editorial control over civic debate occurring within the US. That's common-sense unacceptable.

edit: There was also extensive discussion about this back in 2021 (the idea of China pressuring Apple censorship in the US):

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29482351 ("Apple CEO Tim Cook 'secretly' signed $275B deal with China in 2016")

Common sense left the building a long, long time ago.

>This should be a blaring wake-up call

Apple "woke" up a long time ago.

And for the past 5-10 years virtue signalling from company had been off the chart.

And they're staying committed

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37955902

There was a funny episode about race or something and they had Andrew Sullivan on as the tv beam in guest with like 3 people in studio.

One of the in studio people was a lady who said “I did not agree to come on this show and hear a white man talk” and was basically arguing with Andrew Sullivan on the basis that Sullivan shouldn’t talk.

I don’t remember the point but remember thinking “you came on the Jon Stewart show, how could you not expect a white man to talk to you?”

It was a uninformative show.

The only thing I didn't like about the show is that if there was someone on it with an alternative viewpoint, Stewart would interrupt them and not let them tell their side. Instead of letting them finish and then explaining why he thinks they're wrong.

He was very good about letting the people in his off site interviews explain their side, regardless of viewpoint. He was terrible about it in his in studio segments unless they were telling some harrowing story where he would obviously look like an ass for making a quip in the middle of it

I haven't seen his new show, but my understanding of the original is that they heavily edit the off-site interviews. This can create the effect that the guest is speaking uninterrupted and that the interviewer makes the guest look like a fool - but the effect is created through editing rather interruptions in person.

The new show was nothing like the old Daily Show. At least the couple of episodes that I saw of it.

>The situation is a little weird as the first two seasons of the panel show certainly did not shy away from serious topics

>a little weird

I kinda want to shitpost "how are you a professional writer and not understand the media?" and be done with it.

There are topics branded as "serious" or "hot button" that are a safe place for media to go make some money. Sure they are a little spicy in that there will be disagreement, which is why bland mass-appeal programming avoids them like the plague. But they're perfectly safe topics.

And then there are actual hot button issues. Topics that may even appear blander by comparison, but only because nobody is fucking touching them.

Apple remembers what China did to the NBA.

I hope he goes into directly producing content.

I'd happily subscribe to an unfiltered Jon Stewart's coverage of current events, and I can't imagine I'm the only one.

No advertisers, no parent conglomerate.

Eh, I wouldn’t. And I don’t know if he would either. He cares about his message not his personality or presence, and thank god. he’s always struck me as a guy who values showmanship, he gets his charm from saying what he says on the very payroll of the companies he criticizes.

Why on earth would he ever cheapen that affect he brings with an unfiltered stream, i.e. the dog water that is a has-beens podcast?

Right move from Jon. The man has integrity!

Can't say I really liked his new show much anyway, despite being a huge The Daily Show fan when he was on it.

I can't imagine an AI story would be much of an issue for Apple, right?

They are planning on moving more into the space.

I get the sense this was about the China topic though, and that the AI mention is mostly in the story to get clicks.

It's almost certainly because of a disagreement over criticizing China. The Chinese government is extremely sensitive to what westerners would consider even mild criticism and reacts harshly and swiftly, and Apple's hands are tied because their supply chain is still deeply embedded there for years to come.

What didn’t you like about it? I do think he was a little rusty in the first couple but the interviews were exquisite imho

Why does he need a TV show at this point? He has so much fame that throwing his videos on a self hosted website with links through social media websites would garner him massive views.

Or just throw the videos on YouTube and monetise through ads.

[dupe]

More discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37949512

I am so upset but also proud of Jon. Right on, dude!

I loved the Daily Show, but I was sort of lukewarm in the new format (only watched a few of the early episodes). The panel discussions didn’t really seem to land, and I feel like they rarely do. The interviews were really good though.

When I saw The Problem was announced I had a feeling from the beginning this was not a match that was going to last. Apple TV produced shows have this common thread between them, a very Apple-y je ne sais quoi. Inoffensive, progressive, usually more optimistic than gritty. You can feel the top down production, and there is certainly nothing auteur on offer.

Jon has enough clout and self respect he doesn’t need to kowtow. Which is great for him. But either way, Apple gets what it wants because whatever he wanted to say about China will never be said (and I agree about some other comments that this isn’t about AI - I don’t see Apple taking such a hard editorial line there).

I do wonder what comes next for Jon. He has emerged back on the scene and I’m not sure I see him retreating back into retirement after such a short and anticlimactic stint.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com