The Blindspots of Partisan Media

How should Trump be covered?

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Brian Stelter, longtime media critic and author of Network of Lies, joins Jamie on today’s episode of The Dispatch Podcast to discuss the state of newsrooms nationwide in an age of ideological division, debate the blindspots of partisan media, and offer thoughts on the future of journalism.

The Agenda:
—Overcorrecting coverage of Trump
—Trump’s influence on ratings
—COVID-19 coverage and school closures
—Reporting on race riots
—Forgetting 2020
—The New York Times’ newsroom culture
—Going independent and successful alternative media platforms
—Stelter’s take on what CNN should do now

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Comments (102)
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  1. Avatar photo
    Richard Maxton

    There have been VERY few podcasts The Dispatch has done that I've listened to and then decided, "welp - that definitely was a waste of time".

    This is one of those podcasts. It has only convinced me that I was right about Stelter all along.

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  2. GoldenRuleLover

    I always liked Stelter. CNN erred in letting him go.

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    Ben Connelly

    Whenever Stelter said, “Where is there a conservative outlet that does real reporting from a conservative perspective?” I kept thinking, “Um… The Dispatch…” but he seemed oblivious.

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    Robertndriscoll

    Late to this pod, but great job. Stelter showed who he is, which I gather was the point.

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    Fellshard

    Unsure if it was intentional or not, but it struck me as a very effective pincer move when discussing the blind spots.

    First Brian was repeatedly dismissive of parents' concerns regarding pornographic material in schools, labeling it a 'fear of the unknown' that needed to be questioned.

    And then a mere breath later, he's handwaving any decision made regarding COVID coverage, because those decisions were made in an environment of unquestionable fear.

    Between the two, it gave a perfect snapshot of the deluded partisan brain he has, and I think we're better off for having heard it stated so clearly in so condensed a moment.

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      Ben Connelly

      Yeah. I found myself thinking, “Why should I extend grace post-COVID to people who had zero grace for others during COVID? Why should I give the benefit of the doubt to people who have never apologized to Brian Kemp for his “experiment in human sacrifice” which turned out to be the right decision? In retrospect, Sweden looks like it had the best COVID strategy and the virus looks like it came from a lab? I’m willing to have grace, but first I want an apology.”

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  6. Ballen0514

    I just finished this. Stelter couldn’t hack his way out of the bubble in which he lives.

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    Reed Benet

    Fist learned about Jamie and Jamie's pod at last night's Dispatch Live, and saw everyone taking shots at Stelter, who I have no history with. So coming in pretty much completely naive to everything, thought the interview was well done and Stelter made some interesting points. Let me dig some more into all of it and get more pissed off and opinionated... ;-)

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    BWG

    Stelter is an excellent example of liberal media bias. He claims that his liberal views are normal and centered, and if you disagree you’re an overwrought right wing extremist. He’s actually not a very perceptive guy.

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    The Bell Tower

    I’m glad Mr. Weinstein is here to bring us conversations like this and I think he did a fairly decent job of pushing back against the almost constant stream of absurdity coming from Stetler. However, there was a lot of baloney that just flew right by:

    Trump is a high risk to become a dictator? How? What does this word mean? Is he gonna dissolve Congress like Emperor Palpatine? Is he gonna neuter the courts and purge the military? With what authority? Are all subsequent presidents gonna be called Trumps a la Caesars? Is he gonna live to 100 and stay in the White House the entire time? He certainly represents risks - especially if he wins a legitimate election but dictator is just a stupid word.

    And I’ve said this many times but I’ll say it again: Trump represents the danger OF democracy much more than he represents a danger TO democracy. If he wins in 2024, he’s a legitimate president no matter how desperately we try to wish it away. Note: IF he wins.

    Bari Weiss is a serious and important journalist but Elon is just a hack and even almost the opposite. Was someone gonna point out that a good part of Weiss’ success stems in part from her series on the Twitter files? She is doing great work at the Free Press, no doubt but you can’t just ignore the contribution Musk has made here or the work she did in exposing the baloney that was happening at Twitter before Musk took over (and arguably instituted his own brand of baloney).

    The New York Times and much of the mainstream media gets a pass for pushing school closures and such because COVID was a time of great fear and uncertainty. Indeed but that also applies to Trump then. His decisions were made in the same context but I didn’t hear either of these individuals point that out and you rarely hear it. Why not?

    The Daily Wire absolutely has original reporting on issues that mainstream outlets like CNN just don’t cover. I don’t much like Matt Walsh but he’s done important work - particularly around the abuses coming from this silly trans movement that has been almost entirely ignored by supposedly serious news outlets. You have to parse through the vitriol and bias but, and I hate to break it to Mr Stetler, that’s true over at CNN also. The Daily Wire is no match for the CNN news room to be sure but it isn’t entirely without any merit either.

    This was an important window into the elitist fart cloud that so many allegedly serious journalists seem to live in. Mr. Stetler may live on a farm now but that doesn’t appear to have disabused him of this inside the beltway bubble bias he continues to carry. Glad to see that he’s willing to come here and respond to questions and debates. Good on him for that.

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    DeniseMc

    I have a working theory that most cable news peeps don’t believe half the 💩 that comes out their mouth. I guess Brian S really is awful on and off air. This podcast was simply unlistenable to me. I never stop a podcast on a run and I did this one. I couldn’t imagine going a mile further with him in my ear. Sorry, ewww.

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