"Arianna Discusses The Media And Jon Stewart's Rally To Restore Sanity On CNN's 'Reliable Source (with video)

HuffPo, with video (06:47) from CNN:

Arianna appeared on CNN's "Reliable Sources" on Sunday to talk about Jon Stewart's Rally To Restore Sanity, and his critique of the cable news media. "The rally was a high-wire act," Arianna told host Howard Kurtz. "But I think he really pulled it off magnificently."

"The message at the end is incredibly important -- what we in the media tend to cover, whether it's Balloon Boy, or Reverend Jones burning the Quran -- at the expense of other things that are happening around the country, where we put our magnifying glass, as he put it, is incredible important."

Ten-thousand people traveled to the rally from New York on 200 buses organized by HuffPost. "It was just amazing," Arianna said. "The fact that they were there, even though they had flown from other parts of the country. One of them had flown from Washington to get on a bus in NY to get to the rally. Because they wanted to have that sense of community and connection. And that is what you observed if you walked around the rally. It wasn't just what was happening on stage, it was what was happening among people there."

Arianna also disagreed with Kurtz's characterization of Stewart as a liberal commentator. "What makes him and Colbert special is the fact that they use satire to speak truth to power, whether that power is liberal, conservative, in the media, in politics. That's where their power comes from. And people who continue to see it as a sort of left-leaning show are completely missing its appeal." MORE...

Howie P.S.: Here's the complete transcript.