PETERSON | Jon Stewart-Jim Cramer debacle reaffirms what is and isn’t important

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If someone were to say that some islands in the Pacific Ocean were sinking, to what degree would such a statement be believable?

Would several photos, scientific experiments, a television news report or a random media personality be enough to convince you?

Television media personalities like Jon Stewart from “The Daily Show” and Jim Cramer from “Mad Money” often are the most noticeable figures in American society today, especially among those who are college-aged and looking for answers for their futures.

They aim to bring to light any questions Americans may have, and thrive on entertaining at the same time.

Those two personalities took to the airwaves to point and counterpoint their cases, and despite how people feel about either gentleman, it is a real interesting development for what direction the cable networks want to go.

Stewart taking Cramer to the rack over Cramer’s own investment advice is just a chance to make clear what was said and what can be done to rectify the matter.

Stewart hardly takes himself seriously, while Cramer wants to meld financial advice and oddball antics.

The difference is that Stewart is in it to make jokes and occasionally make social commentary, whereas Cramer tells stock market investors what to buy or sell in terms of good investments or bad investments – then smashes coffee mugs with a baseball bat or throws pies around to get someone’s attention.

One affects how your retirement portfolio will do, and the other affects how badly your sides will split from his shtick. Who should be taken more seriously?

Snake oil salesmen are always looking to get someone’s attention, and both Stewart and Cramer are rather adept at their respective crafts. But when someone is in it for jokes and another is in it for advice, the people who are listening need to make sure they know what indeed they are listening to and how their lives will be affected by it.

While the Cramer/Stewart debacle will not have the same effect as Murrow’s debate with McCarthy or Frost’s contention with Nixon, it will reaffirm what is and isn’t important when it comes to information. Information is more valuable than ever before, and that is why it shouldn’t be so easily frittered around like coins on the sidewalk, especially when assessing how much wealth someone may have.

We crave for advice, and some answers are better than others. But what can be more important is not always how honest the medicine man is, but how seriously he takes himself and what kind of medicine he prescribes.