Jon Stewart
Senator Jon Stewart grills Rupert Murdoch
March 29, 2013: 2:33 PM ETNews Corp. might seek a waiver of FCC rules in order to buy the Los Angeles Times. Jon Stewart has some questions.
FORTUNE -- Media-ownership rules might or not be outdated, but for now, they still exist. They can be waived, however, to allow media companies to own several different news outlets in the same market. News Corp.(NWSA) chief Rupert Murdoch has received several such waivers over the years, even though it was his voraciousness for owning media outlets that led to the rules in the first place. And he might be seeking a waiver now to allow him to buy the Los Angeles Times from the Tribune Co. He would need such a waiver because he already owns two television stations in the Los Angeles market.
On last night's The Daily Show, Jon Stewart played the inquisitive senator, glasses perched Carl-Levin-Style on the tip of his nose, eliciting testimony from archived video footage of Rupert Murdoch (including one bit from several decades ago). Reviewing the recent phone-hacking scandal at News Corp.'s British tabloid News of the World, Stewart told Murdoch: "I assume you're asking us to waive our laws as a courtesy, so you don't have to break them."
President Obama is deciding whom to nominate as the head of the Federal Communications Commission with the announced departure of Julius Genachowski. "How about Jon Stewart as the next FCC Chairman?" tweeted media watchdog Josh Stearns.
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Samsung's snarky TV ads have harshed the iPhone's vibe
Samsung's "buzz score" has overtaken Apple's in a key demographic, says YouGov
The chart at right says it all.
Starting around Nov. 28 -- six days after Samsung began airing its Galaxy Nexus ads mocking Apple's (AAPL) customer base (see here) -- the Korean conglomerate's "buzz" started rising and the iPhone's drifting down.
And on Wednesday, according to a press release issued by YouGov, something unthinkable happened:
"Samsung has just edged past the iPhone MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Dec 14, 2011 1:11 PM ETPosted in: Apple, Brand Index, Galaxy Nexus, iPhone, Jon Stewart, Mobile, New York Times, Samsung, TV ads, YouGov -
How the market in Apple 'weeklys' is rigged
If you're looking for evidence of manipulation, Friday's close was picture-perfect
"The easiest way to think of options," wrote The Market Skeptics's Eric deCarbonnel in a prescient 2009 post, "is as a type of insurance. Investors pay a premium to protect themselves against sharp swings in the market. If these sharp swings don't happen, those selling options (option market makers) keep the premiums as profit."
"In a legitimate free market," he continues, "every MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - May 15, 2011 9:32 AM ETPosted in: Android, Apple, Calls, Derivatives, Eric deCarbonnel, Financial, Google, Investing, Jim Cramer, Jon Stewart, Manipulation, Market maker, Options, Puts, Share price, Steve Jobs, The Daily Show, The Street, Travis Lewis, Weekly options, Weeklys -
Jon Stewart to Steve Jobs: 'Chill, baby'
The Daily Show host blasts Apple for Big Brother tactics in the lost iPhone case
You know a story has turned a corner when Jon Stewart takes it on, as he did Wednesday night with the case of the lost iPhone prototype.
The satirical host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show devotes nearly nine minutes to the saga. He gets a few facts wrong and glosses over the possibility that crimes were MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Apr 29, 2010 6:50 AM ET -
Apple briefs: HD flicks, Cramer picks, Palm misses
Tuesday's iPhone 3.0 special event drew the biggest headlines, but that wasn't the only Apple (AAPL) news that broke this week. The highlights:
HD movies on iTunes: On Thursday, the company announced that its collection of high definition movies, hitherto available only through the Apple TV set-top box, can now be purchased or rented on the iTunes Store for viewing on a Mac, PC or widescreen TV. Is this a sign MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Mar 20, 2009 10:41 AM ET -
Stewart slams Cramer with Apple video
The highlight of Thursday night's appearance of CNBC's Mad Money host Jim Cramer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart -- which both NBC and Comedy Central had done their best to promote as the grudge match of the century -- turned out to be a two-year old TheStreet.com video of Cramer being interviewed about about how easy it is to manipulate Apple's (AAPL) stock price.
The video is famous among MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Mar 13, 2009 10:27 AM ET
