CNN’s Brian Stelter went on C-SPAN on Tuesday to hawk his new book. Instead, he became the prey for callers who lambasted CNN’s record.
Stelter joined C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” and was slammed by one caller who said that when it comes to lies, President Donald Trump can’t hold a candle to CNN.
“You guys always talk about how many times Trump has lied,” said Derek from Lakeland, Minnesota. “I’ve calculated that, I think, with your chyrons — I don’t know if there are any journalists left at CNN, but I know that, you know, if I were to estimate, about 300 different distortions or misinformation that we get out of CNN.
“And you have to watch them in the airport, which is harsh, but if you added all that up to 46 months, it comes out to be 300,000-plus distortions of truth.”
The caller then touched on the case of Nick Sandmann, the Covington Catholic High School student who was victimized by inaccurate and incomplete reporting and eventually settled a multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit with CNN.
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“This is how low you’ll go, is that you went out, and you made lies and you defamed a child and then you had to settle out of court to pay this child for distorting information about this young individual,” Derek said.
“So, I would say, you know, if anything that’s happening at CNN and anybody who buys your book, it’s really just one of those things that is dividing our nation,” he said.
“I don’t believe in dividing our nation. It hurts our great nation, and, so, CNN is really the enemy of the truth.”
The segment starts at the 21:37 mark in the video below:
Many agreed with the caller.
Brian Stelter is an Ivory Tower liberal who has no idea what is really happening because is he isn’t a political reporter or a field reporter in the conflicts
So CNN lies, like Covington, and in his ignorance says the media equivalent of “let them eat cake” https://t.co/fymis8bOml
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) September 1, 2020
Pelosi blames salon owner; Cuomo blames Trump and Stelter blames “young producer.” Do Leftists EVER take responsibility for their non-stop failures and hypocrisies?
That’s Who CNN’s Brian Stelter Blamed for Network’s Laughable Kenosha Riots Banner https://t.co/4hcXtgU6W7
— Evan Sayet (@EvanSayet) September 3, 2020
Even callers on C-SPAN are calling out @brianstelter for his and CNN’s obvious bias.
Stelter continues to live in some alternate reality where he truly believes he is unbiased. https://t.co/zbpvV4EChW
— MediaResearchCenter (@theMRC) September 1, 2020
Stelter sought to blame Trump for media distrust.
Do you think CNN is unbiased?
“I’m grateful for the call, and I know that you’re not the only person that feels this way. There has been a process of radicalization that’s happened in this country, with media bashing that is absolutely unprecedented,” he said.
The “Reliable Sources” host then sought to characterize media bias as a relic of the past.
“You know, 20, 30 years ago, conservatives talked about media bias, and there were some really valid points to that critique,” he said. “It is absolutely true that lots of journalists are based in New York and Washington, they’re based in big cities, they have liberal leanings, and mainstream newsrooms are built to make sure that that bias doesn’t seep into the news coverage. And yet sometimes it does. I absolutely acknowledge that.
“I think it’s different to talk about things as if they’re enemies. No American is an enemy of another American. No news outlet is an enemy of America.”
Oh @brianstelter did not have a pile of fans calling in to C-SPAN today. This man really brought the pain, saying “CNN is the enemy of truth.” Stelter said yeah, Trump has “radicalized” people with this talk of media bias. Laughably claims MSM is structured to keep bias out! pic.twitter.com/fsDZIaePB7
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) September 1, 2020
Another caller ridiculed CNN for a chyron the network used last week talking about “mostly peaceful protests” in Kenosha, Wisconsin, while the video on the screen showed arson fires burning.
You cannot make this up… A CNN reporter is standing in front of a building engulfed in flames and CNN’s chyron reads:
“FIERY BUT MOSTLY PEACEFUL PROTESTS AFTER POLICE SHOOTING” pic.twitter.com/4OHvKnh63u
— Kelb Hull (@CalebJHull) August 27, 2020
The caller, who mocked Stelter as “Humpty Dumpty,” said CNN was “not reliable” and Stelter was “a stooge.”
Stelter said the chyron was nothing more than a mistake.
“I don’t know who wrote it, probably a young producer who’s trying their best under deadline in a breaking news situation,” he said. “That kind of thing becomes easily criticized and probably not the right banner to put on the screen.”
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