On March 26, CNN’s ‘ridiculous figure’ Brian Stelter railed against Fox News for daring to report on the case in Rockville, Maryland where two illegal immigrants allegedly raped a 14-year-old girl. Since then, the rape charges have been dropped but child pornography charges took their place. Fox News still reported it, but apparently not well enough for Stelter. “Shouting the allegation. And when it doesn't add up, whispering the update, And all you at home remember is the shouting.” he scolded at the start of the segment on Reliable Sources Sunday.
“This is one of the worst tendencies of media, the lack of follow-up. And right now we are seeing it in action on Fox News,” he asserted. “It was a horrifying local story, a story Fox and other conservative outlets focused on because the two male students were immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally.”
As with his complaints back in March, Stelter is clearly opposed to the case becoming a national story under any circumstance. He never explained why the case shouldn’t be a national story, but one of his heaviest criticisms of the coverage was that it helped President Trump.
“After days and days of loud coverage tilted against the two immigrants, Fox quietly reported the update. There were three short mentions on Friday evening,” he stated after touting how the rape charges were dropped. He then played a clip of Chris Wallace on Special Report saying:
Maryland state prosecutors say after reviewing video and speaking to witnesses, the facts do not support a rape charge. Both defendants still may face child pornography charges. The case gained international attention –
Stelter never addressed the child pornography charges. He instead railed against Wallace for not talking about why it became an international news story. “The answer is his network. Too much of the coverage of this story omitted the conservative media's role in making it a national story,” he said with a clear disdain for conservative media. There was still no explanation about why the Rockville case shouldn’t be a national story.
“Bill O'Reilly there was outraged at the rest of the news media wasn't shouting like he was. But maybe NBC and ABC and CBS were right to be cautious,” he said. But at the time of the original story, there was little evidence that the charges wouldn’t stick, yet the Big Three Network often fail to cover crimes by illegal immigrants.
After accusing the White House of ‘unfairly jumping to conclusions,’ Stelter tried to say that his scolding of Fox News was for the media as a whole. “Yes, the coverage of this case deserves introspection. Let’s recognize that this happens with other stories too. Shouting first, whispering later. Let’s try to get our levels right,” he said. But it clearly wasn’t since there were far more heinous examples he could’ve included.
For instance: When the Rockville case first broke, Curtis Houck, noted that the networks censored the case, but gave the fake rape at the University of Virginia 11 minutes of coverage. This is one egregious example Stelter could have pointed, but he chose to praise them instead.
CNN themselves should be violators according to Stelter’s criteria. A back in 2014, an entire CNN news panel, including the host, took part in the so-called “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” movement that came in the wake of the Ferguson police shooting. But the narrative that Michael Brown put his hands up before being shot was a lie, which was proven by his official autopsy report. The claim even made The Washington Post’s list of biggest lies of the year, but it’s a claim CNN is still pushing to this day.
Stelter himself is a criminal in his own kangaroo court of media law. On numerous occasions, Stelter has openly accused and simply implied that Trump is a dictator. THAT is truly shouting an accusation. He has also been a part of helping to spread questionable claims of islamophobia on Twitter. He even likes to have disgraced reporter Dan Rather on his show, even though Rather shouted a false accusation until it destroyed his career (and he still believes it).
These are all examples that Stelter could have chosen to include his rebuke of “Shouting the allegation” and “whispering the update,” but no. He instead only brought it up when it’s convenient for him to do so and stuck to only one example that just so happens to be his favorite media target.
Transcript below:
CNN
Reliable Sources
May 7, 2017
11:52:51 AM EasternBRIAN STELTER: Shouting the allegation. And when it doesn't add up, whispering the update. And all you at home remember is the shouting. This is one of the worst tendencies of media, the lack of follow-up. And right now we are seeing it in action on Fox News. You might remember that Fox shouted about an alleged rape back in March. The incident happened Rockville high school in Montgomery County, Maryland.
That's the school district where I grew up so I paid close attention to the coverage.
Two students were arrested and charged as adults with first-degree rape. The victim, a female student, said it happened if a school bathroom. It was a horrifying local story, a story Fox and other conservative outlets focused on because the two male students were immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally. This is one of the dozens of stories about the case on Breitbart. I counted dozens and dozens of segments on Fox News back in March. Listen to the way these Fox hosts covered the story.
TUCKER CARLSON: Coming up in next, we’re going back to Rockville, Maryland, outside Washington. The major news network ignored the violent rape allegedly committed there last week by an illegal alien.
SEAN HANNITY: Over the years we've highlighted families who have been victimized by criminal illegal aliens.
BILL O’REILLY: Fox News covered the story extensively as I said last night. But ABC, NBC, and CBS did not cover it on their nightly news broadcast.
STELTER: Bill O'Reilly there was outraged at the rest of the news media wasn't shouting like he was. But maybe NBC and ABC and CBS were right to be cautious. Here is what happened on Friday.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I commend the state's attorney's office for doing the correct thing and dropping the rape charges because obviously this young girl was not raped, as we stated from the beginning.
STELTER: A big development there. Dropping the charges. After days and days of loud coverage tilted against the two immigrants, Fox quietly reported the update. There were three short mentions on Friday evening.
CHRIS WALLACE: Maryland state prosecutors say after reviewing video and speaking to witnesses, the facts do not support a rape charge. Both defendants still may face child pornography charges. The case gained international attention –
STELTER: Let's pause the clip right there. Wallace says the case gained “international attention,” but he doesn't say how. The answer is his network. Too much of the coverage of this story omitted the conservative media's role in making it a national story. For example, when asked about it at a White House press briefing, Sean Spicer talked at length about how disgusting the crime was. Never bothering to use the word "alleged."
…
On Friday, ABC’s Cecilia Vega followed up at the briefing
CECILIA VEGA: This White House has been -- was vocal on that case. From this podium, Sean Spicer said that a big part the president made illegal immigration and crackdown such a big deal is because of tragedies like this. Did this White House unfairly jump to conclusions in this case?
STELTER: Sara Huckabee Sanders dodged the question. But the answer is yes. Yes, the coverage of this case deserves introspection. Let’s recognize that this happens with other stories too. Shouting first, whispering later. Let’s try to get our levels right.
