Latest news with #BrianStelter
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Voice of America Frantically Rehires Axed Farsi-Speaking Employees
The Trump administration has reversed course on yet another of its early decisions. Following Israel's attack on Iran, they're calling back several Farsi-speaking Voice of America employees. According to a new CNN report, several dozen employees who had been placed on paid administrative leave in March have been called back to work. The move, which CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter believes suggests that the Trump administration wants to bolster programming in Iran, comes after Israel launched multiple airstrikes against Iran. Prior to the Trump administration's cutbacks in March, Voice of America produced over four hours of Persian-language programming for audiences in Iran on a daily basis. According to the Voice of America website, this content 'confronts the disinformation and censorship efforts of the Iranian regime and enhances U.S. efforts to speak directly to the Iranian people and the global Persian-speaking diaspora.' While videos have been continuously uploaded to the VOA Farsi YouTube channel since March, they have increased in frequency since Israel's airstrikes, with the account uploading nine videos since Thursday. One of the videos features a Persian-speaking spokesperson from the Israel Defense Forces explaining the Israeli government's justification for the attacks, while others show footage of the immediate aftermath of some of Israel's airstrikes on Iran. Critics were quick to use the news to highlight the importance of VOA in American diplomacy. Brett Bruen, a top Obama-era diplomat, tweeted, 'Turns out not having a channel to communicate with the Iranian people was a pretty bad idea.' Bruen made sure to tag Kari Lake, a senior adviser for the U.S. Agency for Global Media, on his post. Retired Washington Post editor Robert McCartney also weighed in, posting on X, 'So Trump and Musk gleefully dismissed Farsi speakers at Voice of America's Iran service, and now in crisis realize they need them back. Obvious lesson here, but MAGA and GOP will doubtless ignore it.' Patsy Widakuswara, a journalist who is suing the Trump administration as part of the Save VOA campaign, shared a statement on X that read, 'VOA's role in providing independent, factual and authoritative news has been proven throughout countless times of crisis. But after months off the air, we've already lost a lot of audience and credibility. They should bring us all back so we can respond to breaking news in all parts of the world.'
Fox News
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Liberal media downplays LA riots, dismiss violence as isolated while touting 'peaceful' anti-ICE protests
There has been a widespread effort by the mainstream media to downplay the rioting that has erupted in Los Angeles over the past several days in response to ICE raids targeting illegal immigrants. ABC7 Los Angeles anchor Jory Rand went viral for cautioning law enforcement from escalating tensions by interfering in rioter vandalism. "It could turn very volatile if you move law enforcement in there in the wrong way, and turn what is just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn into a massive confrontation and altercation between officers and demonstrators," Rand said. CNN media analyst Brian Stelter has been vocal in minimizing the rioting that has taken place. "The unrest is isolated. It has not overtaken the entire city of LA. LA is home to millions of people, most of whom are having a normal day here on Sunday," Stelter said as CNN aired a breaking news banner reading "AS L.A. RIOTS EXPAND, SO DOES MISINFORMATION." On Monday, Stelter urged CNN viewers to "be careful" about what they see on social media. "A lot of these algorithms are surfacing hours-old or even days-old content!" Stelter exclaimed. "So you might be looking at a video of something wondering what's happening in LA- it's actually from two days ago!… It only matters because it can give people a false impression of what's actually happening at a moment of unrest." Stelter offered a similar sentiment on X. "Offline, in real-world Los Angeles, most Angelenos are having a perfectly normal day. But online, the fires and riots are still raging. Seeking clicks, clout and chaos, unvetted social media accounts are preying on fears about where last weekend's clashes will lead," Stelter wrote Tuesday. "The powerful algorithms that fuel social media platforms are feeding users days-old and sometimes completely fake content about the recent unrest in L.A., contributing to a sense of nonstop crisis." NBC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff acknowledged that there had been "civil unrest" and "reports of looting overnight," but stressed that isn't happening "on a wide scale" across the city. "And I think it's important to emphasize that this is also not what was happening before the National Guard came to Los Angeles. That's the point that Governor Newsom is making," Soboroff said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." Soboroff also shrugged off news coverage of the "gnarly" depiction of the protests by sharing a video of himself attending an "interfaith vigil" blocks away. On Wednesday's installment of "Today," his NBC colleague Liz Kreutz told Savannah Guthrie that LA is "not on fire." "You could be in Santa Monica or another part of LA and not even feel the impact of these protests," Kreutz said Wednesday. "They are very much concentrated, Savannah, to a very small pocket of downtown LA, around the federal building, around City Hall. That is where these protests are taking place right now. That is why local law enforcement believe they can handle this situation. Of course, the president is painting a different picture." "And we should say there are some agitators and people that have been really instigating things with police. But for the most part, especially during the day, many of the protesters gathering have been peaceful," the NBC News correspondent added. The New Yorker published a political cartoon Tuesday depicting the National Guard gathered outside LA's iconic Cinerama Dome with one saying to another, "The protesters seem to be doing some sort of joyful synchronized dance. Is it time to call in the Marines?" On Sunday, The New York Times published a story with the headline, "Not far from tense clashes, life goes on in L.A.," touting how the Los Angeles Pride parade "went forward without delay" among other things going on in the city. "As the first National Guard troops rumbled into Los Angeles on Sunday, summoned by the Trump administration to quell protests against an immigration crackdown, Los Angeles remained its eternal self — bigger than any one disruption. Los Angeles County, all 4,000 square miles of it, has a way of insulating and isolating mayhem, man-made or otherwise," the Times wrote. "As clashes have broken out between protesters, federal agents and police officers, life — that uniquely sunlit and serene Southern California version of it — mostly unfolded peaceably. It's not that those elsewhere were oblivious to what was happening. It's just that there was space for the one to not interrupt the other." The ladies of ABC News' "The View" also peddled the narrative. "It's been peaceful for days, and then suddenly these guys showed up and flipped everybody out. And so that's what my family is saying," Whoopi Goldberg said Tuesday. "I spoke to five people that live in LA, that work in LA, and they said the protests were very, very orderly, they weren't violent, and they occurred in about a four-block radius, and we all know how large LA is," Sunny Hostin followed. "And so, in my view, there is no crisis in Los Angeles that ICE did not cause. That is the fact of the matter, right?" On Tuesday, ABC's LA-based late-night host Jimmy Kimmel declared "there's no riot outside" and suggested the media is hyping the unrest while blasting President Donald Trump for sending in the National Guard. "Someone sets a fire in a garbage can, 12 camera crews go running toward it," Kimmel asserted. "Trump wants it to seem like anarchy, so he goes around our governor and calls in 4,000 troops from the National Guard and 700 active-duty Marines. When we had the wildfires that devastated big chunks of our city, he did absolutely nothing. Now that we're in the middle of a non-emergency, send in the National Guard!"
Fox News
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
MASK OFF: Joe Concha Breaks Down Media's Insane L.A. Riots Coverage
Joe Concha, Fox News Contributor and author of The Greatest Comeback Ever: Inside Trump's Big Beautiful Campaign , joined The Guy Benson Show today to discuss the media's relentless effort to blame Donald Trump for the ongoing LA riots, despite the violence being driven by far-left activists defending criminal illegal aliens. Concha also took aim at Brian Stelter and other mainstream outlets for their absurd attempts to downplay the chaos, describing LA as 'normal' even as cars burn and stores are looted. He and Benson also reacted to the unprofessional behavior of figures like Terry Moran and Chuck Todd, with Moran facing suspension for his conduct. Listen to the full interview below! Listen to the full interview below: Listen to the full podcast below:
Fox News
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
DAVID MARCUS: CNN's airing of ‘Good Night And Good Luck" proves it has learned nothing
It takes a lot for me to object to a television program that includes gratuitous smoking and jazz, but CNN found the exception Saturday night with its breathtakingly sanctimonious live telecast of Broadway's "Good Night and Good Luck." This was as shameless as it gets. Many are familiar with the 2005 hit movie that the play, starring George Clooney, is based on, in which brave 1950s CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow takes on the red scare baiting of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. CNN's message was clear, they are the heroic journalists and President Donald Trump is McCarthy. As if this metaphor wasn't already incessantly slamming us in the head like a giant inflatable hammer for two hours, CNN's resident media guru Brian Stelter wrote an entire column comparing McCarthyism to the current lawsuit against CBS News' "60 Minutes," whose extremely friendly (read: dishonest) edit of an interview with Kamala Harris could have tilted the 2024 election, according to Trump. "The real-life drama recounted in the play took place at CBS, the same network that is currently being targeted by President Donald Trump," wrote Stelter. "That's one of the reasons why the play's dialogue feels ripped from recent headlines." CNN's media expert basically left out the whole part about "60 Minutes" editing a Kamala Harris interview to make her incoherent answers seem somewhat sensical, because for Stalter and CNN fighting against Trump is more important than journalistic integrity every day of the week. Even if Stelter, who once championed the absurd Biden White House lie that videos of decrepit Joe Biden were "cheap-fakes," won't say it, "60 Minutes" disgraced itself and lied to the American people. But there was Scott Pelley, the "60 Minutes" anchor on CNN, after the show, with an air of gravity and profound conceit, insisting that, "if you have the courage to speak, we are saved. If you fall silent, the country is doomed." Do these people listen to themselves? Do they own any mirrors? CNN and most of the liberal legacy media spent the entirety of the first Trump presidential term fostering a fake Russian collusion story. They then spent the four years under Biden ignoring the fact that he was demonstrably unfit. Where on earth do these people get off lecturing us about journalism? Then, of course, there is the star of the show, George Clooney himself. This is the same George Clooney who lied about the president of the United States being a zombie until it became politically expedient to be honest. Just like CNN lied about Russiagate, just like "60 Minutes" lied about editing Harris, Clooney lied about Biden's fitness. Because to these people, any lie is justifiable as long as it hurts Donald Trump. I really wish that was hyperbole, but it's not. Clooney has no contrition over his lies, and neither does CNN, Jake Tapper, Brian Stelter, or Scott Pelley. They don't think they did anything wrong. If they did, they wouldn't be dressing themselves up as heirs to the courageous journalism of Murrow. After the play, there was an assemblage of journalists, speaking before journalism students about the importance of what they had just witnessed. Of course, the closest thing CNN had to a conservative was Brett Stephens, a nice guy, but widely acknowledged as the Washington Generals of conservative political punditry. Needless to say, they congratulated themselves on being so enlightened and brave and speaking truth to power, while the handful of people watching threw up a little in their own mouths. You almost have to admire the audacity of CNN. Just weeks after bombshell books and reporting finally confirmed the obvious about Biden's incapacity and the liberal media's lies, the network aired a play in which it dressed itself up as brave heroes of the newsroom. It's amazing. It's also informative. This bizarre effort by CNN to paint itself in historical glory is proof positive that the network has learned nothing from its lies over the past eight years, and there is no reason to believe it will start being honest anytime soon. This reckoning by the liberal press regarding their failure to tell the truth about Biden is over. In fact, it never really began, and if they had somehow dragged bag-a-bones Joe over the finish line and gotten him elected, we'd have likely never known a thing about it. There's an old saying, when people tell you who they are, believe them. On Saturday night, CNN showed America exactly what they are: a shameless, unrepentant, and unreliable source for news. And that's the way it is.
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Jon Stewart mocks CNN for cashing in on Biden cancer diagnosis
Daily Show host Jon Stewart shamed CNN on Monday for endlessly promoting a top anchor's new book about Joe Biden's cognitive decline while covering the former president's cancer diagnosis. Stewart, 62, blasted the network as 'f***ing weird' for touting the tome alongside news that Biden is battling an 'aggressive' form of prostate cancer. He framed the effort as not only self-serving, but poor journalism - saying CNN had its chance to report on news of Biden's mental state before the election. The book, Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, claims to detail a distinct Democratic 'cover-up' designed to allow Biden to run again. Ahead of the book's Tuesday release, it was plugged by co-author and CNN host Jake Tapper, Brian Stelter, and Kate Bouldan - leading Stewart to call out specific sound bites. 'You will not believe what we found out,' Tapper says in one clip, while holding up a copy of his book. 'Don't news people have to tell you what they know when they find it out?' Stewart sarcastically responded, suggesting CNN had the chance to air such reporting a year ago. 'Isn't that the difference between news and a secret?' Stewart ran through plethora of other CNN clips featuring talking heads flogging the book. 'Biden's health was very much in the news even before the cancer diagnosis was announced on Sunday,' Early Start host Rahel Solomon said in a segment. 'That's because of a new book by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios journalist Alex Thompson,' she added. The tagline was later repeated word-for-word by CNN International anchor Ben Hunte on CNN Newsroom. 'CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, looks at a controversy the book is already generating ahead of its release on Tuesday,' Hunte added, giving the floor to CNN's media reporter. Mere hours before, Stelter had appeared to question the timing of Biden's diagnosis, calling it 'extraordinary' and pointing out how it arrived on 'the same day audio clips of [Biden's] Robert Hur interview were all over the news.' 'The timing of former President Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis is certainly dramatic,' he said, speaking to Hunte and viewers in a clip also played by Stewart. 'Coming on the eve of a blockbuster new book about his health and his time in the White House. CNN Business correspondent Rahel Solomon was one of several CNN hosts to promote their coworker's new book 'That book is "Original Sin" by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson. 'The book has been getting a lot of pre-publication publicity and buzz, as well as a lot of preorders,' Stelter continued. '[It's] because of the damning new details it contains about Biden's time in office and his decision to seek reelection in 2024.' Another segment singled out by Stewart showed CNN News Central anchor Bolduan saying, 'This very tough news, this very challenging news,' while speaking on Biden's diagnosis. 'And at the same time, the backdrop of our colleague Jake Tapper's book with Alex Thompson coming out this week,' she quickly added. After showing a clip of anchor Dana Bash saying it's going to be a "tough week" while touting the book, Stewart couldn't resist. 'It's so hard, it's such a difficult time, so unfathomable in terms of the pain his family must be feeling and yet, if you act now, you use the code "backslash tap that book,"' he sniped. CNN stars Kate Bouldan, Van Jones, and Brian Stelter all shilled for the book as well This left an incredulous Stewart to find humor in the situation. He branded the 'pivot from excitedly promoting your anchor's book to somberly and respectfully promoting your anchor's book' a failure 'Forgetting about the fact how f***ing weird it is that the news is selling you a book about news they should have told you about a year ago for free.' 'Nothing could slow down this coming, feeding news frenzy about Biden's cognitive health, other than maybe a report on his actual physical health,' he added separately. 'Doing the story seems almost disrespectful.'
