STEWART AND COLBERT ARE SCABS

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SAXON BAIRD, CAMPUS PROGRESS - Don't fool yourself: Jon Stewart and
Stephen Colbert are scabs. As members of the Writers Guild of America,
or WGA, both hosts officially crossed the picket lines of striking
writers by taping new episodes this week. While fans of "The Daily Show"
and "The Colbert Report" may be happy that their favorite faux-news
programs are back on the air, progressives should think twice before
tuning in: The show clearly has pre-written scripts, and Stewart's and
Colbert's decisions to tape new episodes is a slap in the face to the
writers who have been on strike since early last November.

No one, not even the reporters over at the New York Times, have been
able to figure out why Stewart and Colbert have decided to return to the
air. In a joint statement released on Dec. 20, Colbert and Stewart
expressed their desire to show their "ambivalence" about the strike, but
lamely joked that without their writers they were "unable to express
something as nuanced as ambivalence." This statement epitomized the
hosts' partially apologetic yet derisive attitude toward the whole
ordeal.

There's a case to be made that Colbert's and Stewart's decisions aren't
completely an affront to the writers' cause. After all, going back on
the air provides a job and much needed paychecks for the cameramen and
stagehands that have also been out of work since the strike. . .
The bottom line, though, is that every joke on the shows this week was
made while the writers remained on the picket lines without pay, and as
Stewart and Colbert continued to collect paychecks. . . As high-profile
members of the WGA, they have the potential to be loud and effective
figures in the strike. We do not usually know the names, much less the
faces, of the writers of our favorite shows. Who better to take up the
cause than famous figures like Stewart and Colbert that are also
card-carrying members?
[Saxon Baird is a senior at Portland State University.\]
http://campusprogress.org/opinions/2378/are-jon-stewart-and-stephen-colbert-scabs


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