CNN’s Stelter Complains That One America News Is Allowed to Exist

Brian Stelter, host of the ironically titled “Trustworthy Sources” on CNN, was a guest on Day of the NewThursday morning: To discuss news networks other than his own.

While normally Stelter focuses his vitriol and contempt at Fox News, which leads the nation in cable news viewership, this time he targeted One America News, or OAN: “OAN makes Fox News look liberal…It’s some of the worst of the worst content out there…Even saying the word News with One America doesn’t really seem fair. This is a opinion channel with extremist content.”

 

 

However, rather than actually address the disagreements he has with specific OAN segments, Stelter bashed AT&T (CNN’s parent company) for covering the network and for paying its carriage fees – which AT&T does for CNN as well.

AT&T responded to the original reporting from Reuters by explaining that it does not fund OAN and does pay carriage fees for OAN, along with numerous other channels. This explanation wasn’t good enough for Stelter, who expressed outrage that OAN has been allowed to continue to air:

They’re taking a, they’re making a choice about content. Competition is obviously a positive thing. It’s great to have more and more channels, but, that’s not true – there’s a limit to that when we’re talking about channels that spread hate and misinformation. This channel isn’t just conservative. You can see the difference between a conspiracy channel and a conservative channel.

Stelter Day of the New host John Berman clarified that AT&T is not forced to carry OAN on its platform; it is a corporate choice to do so. This choice, according to the predictably liberal Stelter, is problematic: “There is a difference between real news and conspiracy crap,” he said. Undoubtedly, Stelter would consider his own show to be “real news,” while calling for the deplatforming of news on the other side of the aisle.

Stelter & Berman shared a touching moment where Berman recounted his experience of overhearing Stelter’s compliments at a local restaurant.

BERMAN : The two of them were talking about his awesomeness. Literally, they were discussing how it wasn’t, it wasn’t, and it wasn’t mom. It was not mother.

STELTER : It was obviously my relatives. It was clearly my family.

BERMAN, No. They were discussing how “Reliable sources” was essentially a textbook for journalistic journalism. So, true story.

KEILAR : That’s so lovely. 

BERMAN: Yes. At first I just had the rest of my beer – 

STELTER: Perhaps OAN could simulcast it. John. 

BERMAN: Brian, congrats on all you have done. We appreciate your presence.

Just another day in the life for reliably-anti-conservative Brian Stelter.

T-Mobile sponsored this segment along with Sleep Number.

The complete segment transcript can be viewed below, by clicking on Expand.

10/07/21
6:54.17 AM ET

JOHN BERMAN: So, court documents reviewed by CNN reveal that AT&T was instrumental in the creation of the far-right conspiracy network One America News or OAN. We should note that AT&T is CNN’s parent company. Brian Stelter is CNN’s chief media correspondent, anchor for “Reliable Sources”. And if people don’t know what OAN is, this is a network that traffics in some of the most dangerous conspiracy theories out there. 

BRIAN STELTER says yes. OAN is what makes Fox News appear liberal. In denial of the riot and sometimes pretending that Donald Trump is still President, it is conspiracy-laden. It’s some of the worst of the worst content out there. This reporting first reported by Reuters, now matched by CNN shows how AT&T played a pivotal role in the origins of One America News. Even saying the word News with One America doesn’t really seem fair. This channel is filled with extreme content. But according to these court documents, let me put up on the screen what the, the court documents show, OAN’s founder saying, crediting AT&T saying “They told us they wanted a conservative network. There was only one Fox News and seven other news outlets on the opposite side. When they said that, I jumped to it and I built one.” So in other words, the founder of OAN giving AT&T credit, saying, thank you AT&T for the inspiration for giving us space on your lineup for our channel. Of course, as the years have gone by, OAN’s become more and more conspiracy laden, become more and more of a problem, frankly, within the media universe, full of disinformation. And this story now confirmed by CNN points out AT&T not only helped inspire OAN to launch but also has bankrolled it through carriage fees. Now, AT&T pays carriage fees for lots of channels: CNN, Fox, et cetera. So that’s the way cable businesses work. But, there’s not a lot of other providers carrying OAN. So essentially, AT&T is the one that is subsidizing or funding the channel. 

BERMAN How is AT&T responding? 

STELTER: Well, here’s the statement from the network, from the company that I obtained last night. They said: “AT&T has never had a financial interest in OAN’s success and does not ‘fund’ OAN. When AT&T acquired DIRECTV, we refused to carry the channel on that platform, and OAN sued DIRECTV as a result.” So they’re basically saying they were forced to carry the channel. Then they continue to say: “Four years ago, DIRECTV reached a commercial carriage agreement with OAN, as it has with hundreds of other channels and as OAN has done with the other TV providers that carry its programming.” So AT&T is saying, there’s nothing to see here. The deal is the same as with other channels. But, you know what, there’s maybe a reason why Comcast and Charter and other big cable providers, some of the ones people are watching us on right now, there’s a reason why they don’t carry this conspiracy network. There’s a reason why they don’t provide carriage fees to OAN. They’re taking a, they’re making a choice about content. Competition is good. It’s great to have more and more channels, but, that’s not true – there’s a limit to that when we’re talking about channels that spread hate and misinformation. This channel isn’t just for conservatives. It’s a conspiracy channel, and there’s a big difference, and that’s why AT&T has come under some very harsh scrutiny as people ask, why is AT&T essentially providing the support for this channel? 

BERMAN: There’s no rule, there’s no law that says AT&T has to carry it? 

STELTER: This cable version is called the Wild Wild West. Although there are many government regulations regarding broadcast TV, very few about satellite and cable. So ultimately this is a corporate decision, a business decision, and the Texas-based AT&T, which as I said owns CNN, right now is working on a deal to sell WarnerMedia and CNN off into a merger with Discovery, but at the moment, owns CNN. And, you know, you can imagine maybe some of the conservative executives or board members at AT&T saying, well, we have CNN, we need to have an alternative. Again, real news is different from conspiracy junk. OAN has no bureaus all over the world. It doesn’t have reporters in dangerous locales. It broadcasts lies and goes on air to those who want them. The horrible consequences of vaccine disinformation was what you were referring to. That’s the effect, and something like OAN is the cause. 

BERMAN: And again, it’s a choice. It’s a choice to allow it to be broadcast on your platforms. Briannakeilar, a story about Brian Stelter at last night’s restaurant. Two people were having a conversation about Brian Stelter, sitting at the same table as me. You are correct. 

STELTER: What’s the deal? 

BERMAN: I was just eating and looking after my business while the people next to me were talking about Brian Stelter. That’s how much of a big deal –

STELTER: WOW.

BERMAN: Brian, you’re very kind. Thank you.

BRIANNA KEILAR – What were they trying to say? 

BERMAN : The two of them were talking about his awesomeness. Literally, they were discussing how it wasn’t, it wasn’t, and it wasn’t mom. It was not mother.

STELTER : It was obviously my relatives. It was clearly my family.

BERMAN, No. They were talking about “Reliable Sources”, which is basically a textbook for journalistic work. So, true story.

KEILAR : That’s so lovely. 

BERMAN: Yes. At first I just had the rest of my beer – 

STELTER: Perhaps OAN could simulcast it. John. 

BERMAN: Brian, congrats on all you have done. We appreciate your presence. 

STELTER. 

BERMAN: Right now, the “New Day” is continuing.

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