"The Single Biggest Misconception Is That We Are Lying": CNN Contributor

[Ubiquitous]

The two biggest misconceptions about the legacy media are "that we are
lying" and that they manifest "political bias," according to CNN's
"Reliable Sources." The media's bias actually benefits the people
journalists are biased against, the show insisted.

"The single biggest misconception is that we are lying," guest Mara
Schiavocampo told host Brian Stelter on Sunday's episode, which tackled
alleged common myths about the state of American journalism.

"There is a lot of media mistrust," she said accurately. Schiavocampo
said she frequently encounters media misconceptions "when I'm at a
cocktail party."

"I hear this all the time. And here's what I would love to correct
about that misperception: We are human. We make mistakes." But she
added that "most often," when people point out examples of the media's
lies, "what they're pointing to is an example of a mistake, not an
intentional lie."

Neither she nor Stelter addressed "60 Minutes" reporter Sharyn Alfonsi
accusing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) of corruption, then editing
out the substantive part of his response, which refuted her allegation.

Mistakes are "almost always innocent," Stelter said. Schiavocampo
asserted, "We do not have malicious intent."

Neither mentioned CNN contributor Reza Aslan, who suggested he'd like
to punch 16-year-old Nick Sandmann in the face during his viral stand-
off with left-wing activist Nathan Phillips. "Honest question. Have you
ever seen a more punchable face than this kid's?" Aslan tweeted of the
teenager. Earlier, in 2017, Aslan had called President Donald Trump a
"piece of s***."

CNN continued enumerating the common lies and errors about the media,
with Shiavocampo saying "another big" misconception about the legacy
media is that reporters suffuse their coverage with their own
"political bias." She said it seems "really ironic," but "journalists
are aware of our own political bias," and so "we'll overcompensate to
make sure the other side really gets a fair amount of coverage and
really gets explained properly."

"So in my view, when we do have a political bias, it's the other view
that actually benefits from that because we're trying to counter our
own human impulses," she claimed.

"That's very interesting," replied Stelter, who said that mistakes
often creep in because of the network's "crazy workflow."

In reality, CNN has systematically purged every contributor who
expressed the view of the 78 million Americans who voted for the
Republican ticket last November. After the firing of former U.S.
Senator Rick Santorum in May, nearly half of CNN's remaining
"Republican" commentators endorsed Joe Biden in advance of the 2020
election: Amanda Carpenter, S.E. Cupp, former Congressman Charlie Dent,
Ana Navarro, former Ohio Governor John Kasich, and "Anonymous" author
Miles Taylor. The network's latest hire, Alyssa Farah, has also been
highly critical of former President Donald Trump. Instead, CNN host Don
Lemon said everyone who voted for the Trump-Pence ticket voted to
associate themselves with neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. He featured
no opposing viewpoint.

Stelter and Schiavocampo went on to address why CNN often does not
cover stories that have already circulated on social media.
"Verification takes time," she replied.

That does not explain CNN's error-laden coverage of numerous recent
stories. For instance, in September, Stelter criticized a "faulty media
narrative" that erroneously claimed Border Patrol agents whipped
illegal immigrants from Haiti attempting to cross into Del Rio, Texas.
He did not mention that CNN had repeated the same narrative at least
seven times in the past week.

Nor did CNN await "verification" before presenting Nick Sandmann and
other students of Kentucky's Covington Catholic High School as
aggressively mocking American Indians based on their ethnicity.

"CNN's tagline is `facts first.' And what we believe their reporting
was in this circumstance was lies first, cover up second, and facts not
yet determined by that organization," Sandmann's attorney told Fox
News. "That's millions and millions and millions of repetitions of the
lies and falsehoods that CNN spread." CNN ultimately settled Sandmann's
$275 million lawsuit against the network on January 7 for an
undisclosed sum.

When Stelter lamented the fact that Governor DeSantis has said
conservatives should "assume" the legacy media are lying, Sandmann
pointed to his own story as an example.

Howdy ?? https://t.co/J6949IkMSS

- Nicholas Sandmann (@N1ckSandmann) October 26, 2021

The ratings of Stelter's show, which frequently critiques Fox News
while ignoring his own network's foibles, have plummeted throughout
2021.

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Let's go Brandon!