Fuck Apple, let the man speak.
The Problem with Jon Stewart cancellation highlights a problem for Apple’s content
Submitted 1 year ago by tym@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
crawley@lemmy.world 1 year ago
ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 1 year ago
This feels like corporate shortsightedness; Apple sees a huge overlap in John Stewart and their own core user base so it seems like an easy win to give him a show that does the investigative journalism that endeared him in the first place. But then he start asking questions about the stock market and poking at potential investors and outside pressure is pushing internal executive conversations that eventually realize the hundreds of millions they can make by keeping him on the air is nothing compared to the billions lost of investors start pulling out and draining the Apple stock price.
Apple’s only claim at this point is the billions it makes from an over valued stock price. Mr. Stewart threatened it. So capitalism happened.
scorpious@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Oh come on. They’re not preventing him from speaking, they’re choosing to stop putting million$ into a show with someone they no longer want to do business with (for whatever reason; details not clear).
If the show has legs, Stewart will certainly find a new host. Could be a nice catch for one of the other biggies.
Wermhatswormhat@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Yeah they’re allowing him to speak about only what they deem as “appropriate”. Preventing him from speaking about china is not “letting him speak” as you put it. It also sounds like the reasons for not wanting to do business is pretty clear. Stewart wants to talk about things that apple feels might show them in some not great light, so they can’t have any of that.
Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Yeah I wonder why they suddenly aren’t cool with the show. Seems pretty strange
badaboomxx@lemmy.world 1 year ago
As usual Jon shows that he is a man of principles. Fuck apple.
FrankTheHealer@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Between this on Apple TV+ and Netflix cancelling Patriot Act with Hassan Minaj, it seems there is definitely a big issue with profit driven platforms worried about pissing off actual nations by literally just stating facts.
I hope Jon Stewart can do a deal with another platform and make this kind of content again. But I doubt any big names will want to after this.
Touching_Grass@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Where can he go? Haven’t we turned every platform into profit seeking machines. Any places that could have supported this type of media got chocked out long ago. Were a generation for growing Mr.Beasts not Jon Stewarts. I’m typing all this during a 5 minute commercial break followed by 2 minute ads in the content for a ppv event.
Cethin@lemmy.zip 1 year ago
There are small independent news groups who I’m sure would be happy to have him. They don’t have their own streaming services, but could likely put his videos on their website or YouTube. The big issue is they couldn’t afford Stewart.
tilgare@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 year ago
Unless John Oliver is next to get the can, HBO has always been a safe spot for true free speech, and he really pushes the envelope. But they may not have room in their schedule for two shows like his.
seaQueue@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Between this on Apple TV+ and Netflix cancelling Patriot Act with Hassan Minaj, it seems there is definitely a big issue with profit driven platforms worried about pissing off actual nations by literally just stating facts.
For profit corporate owned platforms really are starting to show their limitations at this point. Eventually I think we’re going to need a lot more self hosted, possibly federated, platform hosting if we want to address the limitations imposed by a single for profit platform owner driven by engagement and beholden to investors.
Apple deplatforming Stewart is the same issue as Musk tanking Twatter or YouTube demonetizing small content creators because it’s profitable - a privately owned platform with the sole goal of maximizing profit and investment income doesn’t advance the cause of free discussion for the public good.
carpelbridgesyndrome@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
The problem isn’t hosting its paying for production of content. His existing stuff will probably stay up and I find it unlikely that YouTube will take down the mean things John Oliver has said about China. The issue is shows with that amount of research and production is that they need a lot of money to produce content.
nucawysi@lemmy.world 1 year ago
More reason for universal standardized content access with universal type apps, anyoen can create content and distribute it to millions of people. These networks have always been about convenience, which they have a properietary tech on apparantly.
TemporaryPrimate@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Did you just invent YouTube?
HaggierRapscallier@feddit.nl 1 year ago
Hassan Minaj
Didn’t he have problems with his staff? They complained on twitter iirc.
Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 1 year ago
This would happen at Amazon or Netflix or Disney, too. Apple’s not special in not wanting to piss off the CCP
hedgehogging_the_bed@lemmy.world 1 year ago
John Oliver doesn’t seem to have a problem with HBO/Max
Colbert seems to struggle more with the FCC regulations on what he can’t say and show more than what CBS wants. It’s less often now but at the start of his Late Show he really appeared to be mean to CBS on-air specifically to prove that they didn’t have a presence in his writers room.
NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 1 year ago
HBO doesn’t have a hardware business dependent upon China
Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Oliver also has a lot of Emmy wins. He might also have a larger viewing audience.
My guess is that Oliver, like Viacom era Jon Stewart, is popular enough that he can shit on his employer.
originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 1 year ago
eh, wth would netlfix or amazon care what china thinks??
apple has major physical investment in china.... thats the conflict of interest here. a media conglomerate changing the story because businessmonies.
Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Netflix is a bad example, but Amazon and Disney do a lot of business with China. Amazon had e-commerce and web services offerings in china. Also they, like Apple, manufacture a LOT of shit there. Disney is simpler. They want to sell their media in China.
PetDinosaurs@lemmy.world 1 year ago
They all want access to the Chinese market.
ManosTheHandsOfFate@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Yep, and the article says that:
“The show’s cancellation is indicative of the kinds of challenges owners of platforms (like Apple, Amazon, Google, and others) face when they are producing content, too.”
ArbiterXero@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Netflix is for less beholden to the ccp than Apple or Amazon
FartsWithAnAccent@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Good on Stewart for not being a corporate shill. Fuck Apple!
andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 1 year ago
I didn’t watch the show (because I don’t have Apple+) but I’m still really disappointed because he had a podcast companion that I listened to, and the man and his writers and researchers are sharp as fuck. It was so incisive, and I really admired how he was bringing what felt like Eugene Debbs and Studs Terkel levels of socialism but without ever using those words.
I also liked how the show clearly had diverse voices, but it didn’t seem to pander or brag about it.
Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 1 year ago
The Podcast was really really good. I preferred it to show. I hope he continues to explore that format.
SharkEatingBreakfast@sopuli.xyz 1 year ago
Won’t someone think of the poor billion dollar corporations!!
kandoh@reddthat.com 1 year ago
Trillion
SharkEatingBreakfast@sopuli.xyz 1 year ago
I cannot even fathom that amount of money.
MeatsOfRage@lemmy.world 1 year ago
On a separate note, I just couldn’t get into this show. I love Stewart and watched daily show for years. I found the problem with… Problem was that it had a fear that the content wasn’t good enough to stand on it’s own so there was this constant barrage of quips that frequently fell flat. Maybe the show got better over time (I only caught the first 3 or 4 episodes).
DarkGamer@kbin.social 1 year ago
The Daily Show was mostly upbeat and highlighted the absurdity of politics even when they were covering serious topics, so the jokes seemed to flow pretty naturally. In The Problem Jon Stewart would oscillate between serious/morose to a few jokes and back again, it was giving me thematic whiplash and I couldn't hang with it either. I think Last Week Tonight is The Daily Show's spiritual successor.
njm1314@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Man have you not watched last week? Morose and serious is like how I would define it. I even made a joke last week about how ‘if I’m talking about something it’s probably horrible and tragic’.
CarlosCheddar@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Same thing happened to me. I wonder if these articles are just ignoring the ratings.
WoahWoah@lemmy.world 1 year ago
What a poorly written article. It’s like an article that had a point that got forgotten 2/3rds through and then just ends. If you’ve read the NYT article, this adds literally zero information. It’s a poorly executed paraphrase.
Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Bummer. Apple has had some of the best streaming content right now. IMHO, it’s what HBO should’ve been. This is definitely puts a black eye on the service for me.
autotldr@lemmings.world [bot] 1 year ago
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Its cancellation sheds some light on the conflict of priorities Apple faces as it leans more into content rather than just selling tools, platforms, and gadgets.
The New York Times article cites “several people with knowledge of the situation,” saying that staffers working on the show were told at the end of the day Thursday that it would not move forward.
Specifically, they claimed Stewart told staffers that Apple execs took issue with planned programming related to both China and artificial intelligence, and noted that with the 2024 US election coming up, there might have been additional opportunities for disagreement then.
Regarding China, Apple execs may have been worried that Stewart’s planned commentary could alienate customers or partners in the country.
Primarily, it uses machine learning to drive things like search suggestions, photography, and palm detection.
The show’s cancellation is indicative of the kinds of challenges owners of platforms (like Apple, Amazon, Google, and others) face when they are producing content, too.
The original article contains 440 words, the summary contains 162 words. Saved 63%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
TheSecurityNinja@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
This is the problem with all modern media. It’s all profit based. It’s all a manipulation scheme to get you to fork over money.
Freedom of the press has evolved into press for sale. It is ironic that we live in a world that is more interconnected than ever before, with anyone able to speak their mind to people across the globe, yet the rich still control the flow of information.
kandoh@reddthat.com 1 year ago
This is why Severance is so fucked
Squizzy@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Why?
Dozzi92@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I started writing “Because Apple is keeping an underground slave workforce” as a joke, it had to circle back.
Iwasondigg@lemmy.one 1 year ago
Could Amazon swoop in and hire him? Would be a boss move if they did that.
Blackout@kbin.social 1 year ago
If there is one company more evil than Apple it's Amazon. At least the genius bar workers arent forced to piss in bottles and work thru tornados
Contend6248@feddit.de 1 year ago
It’s not about good and evil, it’s about relying on someone business-wise or not.
danc4498@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Shows like this should have zero input from executives. If you are not willing to let the show have free rein, you don’t deserve to host the show.
Hopefully Jon Stewart does something else with less corporate oversight.
DanglingFury@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I was so excited to have him back and so let down when he was cancelled. I really do hope he goes somewhere else
Rouxibeau@lemmy.world 1 year ago
You should be clear; was he canceled or was just his show canceled?
Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Honestly, I hope he leans into his podcast. IMHO, The Problem’s podcast was better than the show.
The podcast was just as effective at highlighting issues of importance, but it was a bit more fun, and it commented more on the weekly news.
IMHO, the podcast did a better job of scratching my 2000’s Daily Show itch. The TV show was fine, but it felt like an even heavier version of Last Week Tonight. It wasn’t a show I could watch if I had a hard week. It was good, but I often finished it somewhat depressed.
hardcoreufo@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I’ll have to check out the podcast. The show was definitely too heavy for me to want to watch most of the time.
littlecolt@lemm.ee 1 year ago
HBO should make him an offer. Pull him over to chill with John Oliver again like the good old days.
mosiacmango@lemm.ee 1 year ago
HBO? Ohh you mean MAX, the hip and cool skateboarding cousin that showed up to HBO’s house in season 6 of the “HBO show” with the bodacious sunglasses and the backward hat.
Yeah, I’m sure that guy is jazzy and gnarly enough to support John Stewart.
Radical!
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 1 year ago
The Other Problem with John Stewart: Apple is Beholden to China
just_another_person@lemmy.world 1 year ago
For real. Maybe PBS can afford him.
Maeve@kbin.social 1 year ago
You think big business that advertised on pbs would allow that?