Jon Stewart Lectures Reporters For Lazy Coverage

CNN reports that "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart gave the press a tongue-lashing in Denver today:

As Comedy Central's "Daily Show" descends on Denver for four days of coverage, Jon Stewart took after the "established" media for getting too cozy with candidates and regurgitating campaign spin when it comes to political coverage.

In a breakfast with reporters, Stewart directed most of his ire at the 24-hour cable news networks, which he called "gerbil wheels," and said the media at-large had "abdicated" to what he called the "slow-witted beast."

He said the never-ending television news cycle creates a "false sense of urgency" and forces reporters to "follow the veins that have been mined," instead of pursuing serious and in-depth reporting.

At Comedy Central's Indecision2008 blog, Dennis DiClaudio called the breakfast "the second most fascinating, most I-can't-believe-I'm experiencing-this, thing I have ever witnessed in my admittedly very unfascinating and inexperienced life."

But it wasn't the first time Stewart called the media to task. The lecture was reminiscent of his famous 2004 "Crossfire" appearance, in which he asked the hosts to "stop hurting America":

The show was canceled a few months later.