J-Stew Pours it Out for Striking Writers

Oct. 27 2008, Published 7:07 a.m. ET

Jon Stewart is doing his part to ensure that his crack team of scribes doesn't go hungry as the Hollywood writers strike begins in earnest. Portfolio's Jeff Bercovici reports that the Daily Show host will pay his writing staff two weeks' worth of salary as they attempt to leverage more Internet residuals out of Hollywood studios. (Good luck with that, says the New York Times's David Carr.) Stewart, whose Busboy Productions is also responsible for The Colbert Report, is offering the same deal to writers on that show as well.

UPDATE: There's now some confusion about whether Stewart or Busboy Productions is paying writers and/or the staffs of the Daily Show and Colbert while they strike. Perhaps without show deadline pressures, the writers got crafty and contrived a believable rumor to pressure their boss into paying them while they protest for a raise?