Brian Stelter returned to CNN on Friday when he joined The Source host Kaitlan Collins to continue his book tour and, just like old times, bash Fox News as the GOP's agenda setter while ignoring how the rest of the media helps set the left's agenda.
Collins noted that Rupert Murdoch is set to step down and wondered “How different does his media empire, not just Fox, but everything, look after that?”
After going on about the future of media more generally, Stelter eventually got to the specifics of Fox, “It's almost as if the energy has moved away from him. Although I think it's important to note, Fox is still the beating heart of the GOP. And that's where, for better and for worse, the narratives are still set.”
As opposed to the rest of the media, where narratives set for the left. Just on Friday, ABC, NBC, CBS, and MSNBC got caught using footage from a Palestinian propagandist and known crisis actor. As per usual, Stelter didn’t have anything to say about that or CNN’s use of Hamas-kissing photographers.
But since the entire premise of the segment was Stelter’s Fox-bashing book, Collins stayed with that network, “Yeah, I mean, what -- you see Trump now. I mean, he went from being someone who, I believe, you had a quote that he was 90 percent, he thought Rupert Murdoch and Fox, they were 90 percent right… Now, I think he'd probably argue they're 25 percent good. I don't know -- he doesn't see it at all like that anymore.”
Stelter wasn’t buying the idea that Trump and Fox are distancing themselves from each other, “In a primary, he would argue that. But come general election, they'll be in Trump's corner.”
And CNN, and the rest of the media, will be in Biden’s corner.
Here is a transcript for the November 10 show:
CNN The Source with Kaitlan Collins
11/10/2023
9:53 PM ET
KAITLAN COLLINS: Well, and Rupert Murdoch, he's stepping down, next week, from this –
BRIAN STELTER: Next week, yes.
COLLINS: -- this pivotal role that he's had for so long.
STELTER: Yes.
COLLINS: How different does his media empire, not just Fox, but everything, look after that?
STELTER: I think he looks diminished. And frankly, some of his own advisors have admitted that to me that he's not the swashbuckling media titan that he was.
It's the likes of Apple and Netflix that now control the media environment, and the likes of Tucker Carlson, who are now on the outside, plotting their own independent media outlets.
It's almost as if the energy has moved away from him. Although I think it's important to note, Fox is still the beating heart of the GOP. And that's where, for better and for worse, the narratives are still set.
COLLINS: Yeah, I mean, what -- you see Trump now. I mean, he went from being someone who, I believe, you had a quote that he was 90 percent, he thought Rupert Murdoch and Fox, they were 90 percent right –
STELTER: Yeah. That's what Trump said. "You're 90 percent good. I need you to be 100 percent good."
COLLINS: Now, I think he'd probably argue they're 25 percent good. I don't know -- he doesn't see it at all like that anymore.
STELTER: In a primary, he would argue that. But come general election, they'll be in Trump's corner.
