Company Man
Just a few days ago The Cable Gamer posted her thoughts about Brian Stelter, CNN’s don’t-call-me-a-media-critic media reporter. He went after ABC for “sexism” in their treatment of Kelly Ripa, yet Mr. Stelter never spoke up about CNN’s own treatment of Kate Bolduan.
Tonight it’s deja vu all over again. Stelter’s media newsletter includes this item:
— @NBCNews tweeted a photo confusing Chief Judge Merrick Garland for suspected murderer Robert Durst today… (Mediaite)
Fair enough; no reason not to report that. But once again, there’s something Brian Stelter is not telling you:
CNN Mistakenly Reports Hastert Avoided Prison Sentence
It turns out CNN did more than tweet the wrong picture. They got the facts of a story wrong, not just in a tweet but in an online report…and in CNN’s ever-present on-screen ticker. But the newsletter from “Brian Stelter and the CNNMoney Media team” completely spiked this story, making no mention of it whatsoever.
If Mr. Stelter’s job is to knock the competition while protecting his bosses, he’s not a media critic, reporter or correspondent. He’s a company man—not what The Cable Gamer puts in the category of “reliable sources.”
UPDATE: FTV Live has further thoughts:
A number of CNN staffers tell FTVLive that Stelter is used by Zucker to get out the boss’s message. It appears Stelter is also there to protect CNN when they screw up…
Meanwhile, Thursday morning Brian Stelter addressed the issue on twitter:
UPDATE 29 April 2016
A new edition of the Reliable Sources newsletter is out. And there’s no mention of CNN’s Hastert screw-up. Oh well.
The Cable Game 
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