1/ Since Jon Stewart's departure, late-night comedy programing has gone from being an edgy & avant-garde platform for communicating truth (and confronting power) to one that prioritizes low-brow political ridicule above anything else, humor included.

2/ Comedy plays an important role in society. It conveys truths about the world that are often politically inconvenient or which can make us feel uncomfortable.

In fact, humor only works when it reflects reality.

Otherwise, it's just not funny.

3/ Who remembers this clip from 2004? It was a painful 14 min roasting of the prime time news program Crossfire & its hosts.

It was so effective that CNN's then CEO referenced it in his decision to cancel the long-running show only a few months later.

4/ I cannot think of a single person today who plays a role similar to that once performed by Jon Stewart & the Daily Show.

John Oliver and Hasan Minhaj both have successful programs, but they almost never do interviews.

When they do, it's with people they already agree with.

5/ It was this combination of moral clarity, activism, humor, & engagement WITH the world that made Stewart so unique.

Not only was he willing to take on the talking-heads at CNN, but he made appearances on FOX and had people on his own show with whom he disagreed vociferously.

6/ During the height of the financial crisis, Jon Stewart welcomed CNBC host Jim Cramer onto his program and then proceeded to roast him over his use of the media to systematically manipulate stock prices for personal gain.

It's the most uncomfortable 25min you will ever watch.

7/ The more I reflect on this, the more I feel that it isn't comedy that's missing. It's trust.

An entire generation grew up trusting Jon Stewart to tell it the truth—about the war, the economy, you name it.

The boomers and their parents had Walter Cronkite. We had Jon Stewart.

8/ It's lack of trust that's the problem. No single, person knows what "the truth" is, but democracy works best when we can trust our news organizations and media institutions not to lie to us, at least not knowingly, and not without consequences.

9/ We are living through the most celebrity driven news cycle in my lifetime populated by people selling outrage in place of reason.

Our president trolls the media and the media trolls him right back.

The public loves it. Everyone is complicit.

10/ This vicious cycle is going to be our undoing. Our information ecosystem is collapsing all around us, and we are disturbingly indifferent to it.

We assume that someone else is going to eventually fix the problem. But in a democracy, there is no one else.

11/ The 2020 presidential election is right around the corner.

It's going to happen amidst a pandemic that could well be wreaking renewed havoc upon American states & cities, and where a dysfunctional federal government continues to send mixed messages and botches responses.

12/ I'm genuinely concerned about the future of our republic.

Our institutions are failing us. The information we rely upon to make sense of the world and hold one another accountable is increasingly unreliable.

The result is that people are willing to believe anything.

13/ It's not clear to me what (or who) can restore faith in America.

So much has been done by us to damage the fabric of our nation.

And now, at the most critical junction it seems as though we are all passengers in a car without a driver.

14/ Those of us who still feel that we have a stake in this country need to acknowledge the severity of the problem & seek constructive solutions.

We cannot afford to indulge in constant outrage, yellow journalism, or grandstanding.

15/ Everyone has a responsibility here, beginning with members of the press.

Our jobs have been made more difficult by the incentive structure of media curation & distribution, as well as a celebrity driven news cycle that elevates narcissists at the expense of facts & reason.

16/ The willingness to indulge in speculation, gratuitous libel, & ad hominem attacks is perpetuating a climate of misinformation that weakens our democracy.

It opens the door to enemies, both foreign & domestic, who seek to destabilize our societies from within.

17/ If we don't take responsibility for the cumulative effect of our actions, we risk losing whatever little trust remains in objectivity & truth.

No one else is going to save us. Only we can save ourselves.