Megan McArdle has some useful advice about appearing on the Daily Show…

…”Don’t Ever Appear on ‘The Daily Show’.”  Good advice.  Good advice. I’m going to quote two of her points, for the benefit of people who ignore this advice and go on the show anyway:

If you must, bring two tape recorders, a video camera and a witness. Announce at the beginning that you are going to record this and reserve the right to release the entire recording to the public. When they tell you that they will not do the interview under those conditions, prepare to leave. There is no ethical reason that a reporter requires the ability to ask you questions without having those questions recorded. The reason they don’t want unedited audio is that you might release it and be revealed as a normal decent person, rather than a horrible fool.

They may attempt to get you to stay by explaining that recording will interfere with their equipment. This is the point where you whip the video camera out of your bag and helpfully offer to videotape the interview instead. Do not, under any circumstances, allow yourself to be alone in a room with the producers and no recording device.

…but, really: don’t go on The Daily Show.  The game is, as they say, rigged against you – because they get to decide what shows up on the screen, and the people who run and work on The Daily Show don’t like people like us very much*.  So save yourself some grief.

Via Hot Air Headlines.

Moe Lane

*Something to keep in mind, the next time you’re talking up a person who happens to be a staffer for The Daily Show.  Or just somebody who thinks that sitting around and watching it makes for a fun date.