Why Should I Think Brian Stelter Is Reliable About, Well, Anything?
[guest post by Dana]
I’m wondering which Supreme Court Justices *haven’t* gone on talk shows to promote their new books:
Justice Neil Gorsuch is on "Fox & Friends" right now. The Q: How is it appropriate for a Supreme Court justice to try to goose sales of his three-month-old book by chatting on one of the most partisan shows on TV?
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 17, 2019
Of course, to Stelter, the problem isn’t Gorsuch goosing book sales, it’s that he’s a conservative Justice appearing on Fox and Friends, which everyone knows is the most Trump-friendly news/talk show around.
Anyway, I tried to locate a similar protest from Stelter when Justice Sonia Sotoymayor promoted her book Just Ask! on the not-Trump friendly Daily Show with Trevor Noah, or when she appeared on the not Trump-friendly Colbert Report to promote her autobiography, My Beloved World, and was unable to locate any similar concerns. And funny, I also couldn’t find any objection by Stelter about Justice Stephen Breyer promoting his third book, The Court and The World on the Colbert Report. Note: both Trevor Noah and Stephen Colbert have made it very clear that they have no love nor respect for Trump. Neither do I, but at least I am an equal-opportunity critic of hack politicians and media outlets – no matter what side of the aisle they represent. Clearly Stelter cannot say the same about himself.
Given that Selter makes it clear that only one side of the aisle matters, while he promotes himself as a serious journalist who anchors Reliable Sources and is CNN’s chief media correspondent, why anyone would find him reliable in his reporting is beyond me. If he can’t be consistent in the small and inconsequential matters, why on earth would I think he would be any different with the weightier issues that actually matter?
(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)
–Dana
Reliable Sources. Heh.
Dana (643cd6) — 12/17/2019 @ 11:16 amStelter is off-base here, but with all due respect, I think you’ve made an unjustified extrapolation from a difference of opinion (bias) to dishonesty in matters of fact (lying).
Bias can often motivate and rationalize dishonesty, but they are not the same thing.
Three years into this wet-fart of an administration, honest people can and should be “biased” against it, because we have come to learn what to expect.
That does not justify Stelter’s unfair criticism of Gorsuch, however.
Dave (1bb933) — 12/17/2019 @ 11:50 amBias is the new honesty.
Munroe (dd6b64) — 12/17/2019 @ 11:56 amStelter is inconsistent because of his bias. Therefore, why should I consider him reliable in reporting on anything?
Dana (643cd6) — 12/17/2019 @ 12:04 pmTaters gonna Tate.
harkin (15bd84) — 12/17/2019 @ 1:06 pmWho?
mg (8cbc69) — 12/17/2019 @ 1:12 pmno kidding, I had to google him.
Time123 (cd2ff4) — 12/17/2019 @ 1:26 pm@6 and @7; that doesn’t exactly boost your credibility
frosty (e5f48a) — 12/17/2019 @ 2:03 pmDont do the cabal of cable, frosty.
mg (8cbc69) — 12/17/2019 @ 2:50 pmIf consistency mattered there is a Democratic Senator from NJ who ought to be all over the news shows offering lessons about standards if proof in ” quid pro quo ” cases.
https://www.law360.com/articles/1008279/menendez-walked-due-to-lack-of-quid-pro-quo-his-atty-says
Pouncer (df6448) — 12/17/2019 @ 6:32 pm