Jon Stewart Sounds the Alarm on CNN and NBC: Reporters Are Being ‘Restricted’ from ‘Giving Their Opinion’

“The Daily Show” host and longtime soap-boxer , Jon Stewart, who recently scrapped plans to film episodes at the Republican National Convention , is voicing his concern for certain media outlets’ closed-door antics in regards to allowing their on-camera reporters and pundits to speak freely. Speaking on his “The Weekly Show” podcast , Stewart expressed genuine angst over the challenges of getting professionals in TV journalism to speak with him.

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“It’s difficult for us to book pundits or journalists that are on television. Their organizations will not let them come on our podcast,” Stewart said. “Let that sink in for just a moment. Organizations that rely on access and transparency refuse to allow their reporters to come on [this] podcast and talk about the issues of the day.”

Brittany Mehmedovic, a producer on “The Weekly Show,” also shared her frustration over this issue. In relation to her previous experience in journalism and handling booking guests, she said to Stewart, “It’s unlike anything I’ve ever really seen in the decade I’ve been doing this, honestly.”

Mehmedovic went on to explain how “phone calls go unanswered” from huge organizations like NBC, which Stewart called out, saying messages from his team would get “left on read.” When Stewart and Mehmedovic would follow up with outlets like CNN and NBC, asking why journalists aren’t being given permission to appear on “The Weekly Show,” they say they only got more silence.

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“News organizations stonewall inquiries as to why their reporters are not allowed, are being restricted, from just being able to come on a stupid fucking podcast and give their opinion,” said Stewart. “Even as just a promotional tool for either the reporter or for the organizations that they work for.”

While Lauren Walker, lead producer of “The Weekly Show,” believed this passive aggressiveness comes as a result of these news organizations wanting “ownership of these journalists that they pay,” another possible excuse is Stewart’s own track record for eviscerating outlets, reporters, and pundits on-camera . He’s famously done so in the past with Tucker Carlson and even recently with Bill O’Reilly. Stewart also claimed CNN “gave us a bunch of shit for trying to bring somebody on.”

“It’s bonkers, and it makes no sense,” he said on “The Weekly Show.” “And I would think it’s an embarrassment to those news organizations. And the crazy thing to me is the journalists themselves think it’s insane. It shows the fundamental disconnect between the people that are running these organizations and what these organizations are supposedly there for, which is informing the public on the issues of the day. … Just absolute nonsense.”