Jon Stewart vs Jim Cramer

Jon Stewart, the comedian on the Daily Show whose satire has achieved the bizarre reputation of being some of the most responsible U.S. “journalism,” has lately attacked the performance of the financial media, especially CNBC, as incompetent in their reporting of Wall Street, the 2008 economic collapse and sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Stewart and CNBC host of Mad Money, Jim Cramer, who is a former hedge fund manager, butted heads on air March 12. Stewart accused Cramer of irresponsible reporting, said a Vancouver Sun story about the brawl. “I understand you want to make finance entertaining but it’s not a f***ing game,” said Stewart.

“Cramer told Stewart there was a market for shows like Mad Money to which Stewart replied: “There’s also a market for cocaine and hookers … Who are you responsible to? The people with the 401k’s and the pensions and the general public or the Wall Street traders?”‘

Episodes of the Daily Show are posted — after a delay — on the CTV site. The Sun web site has a transcript of the interview.