Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" may love mocking CNN, but that in no way means he doesn't care about the future of the 24-hour news network, especially if that future consists of CNN going off the air. Where else would all of his jokes come from if that happened?
Last night on "The Daily Show" Stewart addressed reports that 21st Century Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch attempted to buy cable company Time Warner for $80 billion, of which CNN is a subsidiary. That proposal was rejected by Time Warner's Board of Directors, but some believe Murdoch won't back down and will continue to try purchasing the company. If Murdoch proves successful in acquiring Time Warner he would very likely shut down the more left-leaning CNN, as it would be competing with Murdoch's own right-winged Fox News.
This concerned Stewart, who regularly makes fun of CNN on his show for their antics such as the recent wild speculation over what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Stewart's solution? To buy CNN before Murdoch can get his hands on it.
"Now of course, it [CNN] wouldn't come cheap with analysts saying the network could be worth about $10 billion on the open market," Stewart said on the show. "That's a lot of money for anyone, but not a lot of money for everyone."
Enter the fake "Let's Buy CNN" website, made to resemble a Kickstarter crowdsourcing campaign and complete with ridiculous backer "rewards" for contributing to the $10 billion funding goal. "If Rupert Murdoch buys Time Warner, CNN will be for sale!" the site reads. "So let's buy it and and...do something with it. We're not sure yet."
It goes on to say that buying CNN would allow it to be rebuilt into a better organization, adding "CNN has been terrible for many, many years. Does it have to be that way? Who knows, maybe it does. So let's find out for ourselves!"
Of course the website doesn't actually allow for viewers to donate to the cause, but some of the rewards may just be worth paying for. For the low, low price of $5 million CNN will broadcast a 2 week, 24 hour hunt for your lost car keys, a jab at CNN for their non-stop (and often times preposterous) coverage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Better yet, for $1 billion you can host a CNN anchor Hunger Games. Call me crazy, but that sounds like a pretty good bargain.
