[EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this article suggested that Stelter confused two separate MRC studies. Stelter has since clarified that the point he was trying to make was one of the scope of the study, and the fact that Trump used the phrase “media coverage” to refer to a sample of media coverage. For our answer to this argument, see the “UPDATE” section at the bottom of this blog post.]
While a former CNN anchor acknowledged the existence of the media politicizing their coverage of President Trump, current CNN host Brian Stelter tried to defend the media.
Stelter slammed the Media Research Center’s documented analysis that media coverage of Trump’s first 80 days in the White House had been 89 percent negative, during a panel on his show Reliable Sources on April 30. “You’re citing a Media Research Center study,” Stelter retorted to former Trump advisor Jason Miller, “which is a conservative group, only looking at the three nightly newscasts, from their own conservative bent.”
Stelter went on to say twice that Trump misquoted the MRC study in his speech on April 29 (he didn’t): “President Trump got that wrong last night. He screwed up with that stat last night.” Shortly after, he repeated his erroneous claim, “again, according to that conservative group. But when he gets up there, he misstates the stat.”
Stelter can deny the existence of a media slant all he wants, but even some non-conservatives agree that the media are being overwhelmingly negative. Frank Sesno, the director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, made a similar point in an interview on Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson on April 30. Previously, Sesno had spent 21 years at CNN as a White House correspondent, anchor, and Washington Bureau Chief.
“We have more politics in our coverage. We have more ideology in our media,” Sesno said. “This is where the media are going to have to make a stand, and you know, Washington Post’s [new motto], "Democracy Dies in Darkness," well that's, you know that sounds like a sequel to a Batman movie but it's, it's also both a calling and a flag in the ground.”
Sesno continued this train of thought later in the segment. “Some media have strong ideological baggage, or principles depending on your point of view, that they bring. Some see a higher calling and need for a different level of journalism. Some are just engaged and innovated because the ratings and circulation and clicks are up across the board because Donald Trump is the moth to flame.”
Maybe this is why, according University of Virginia Center for Politics poll, 88 percent of Trump voters say that “media criticism of Trump reinforces that the president is on the right track.” The media’s own approval rating, according to a Gallup poll, is an abysmal 32 percent – significantly less than the 42 percent they mock Trump for having.
UPDATE: In a tweet, Brian Stelter explained, "Trump said "89% OF THE MEDIA'S COVERAGE OF OUR ADMIN HAS BEEN NEGATIVE." Untrue. Your study found ‘89% of 3 NIGHTLY NEWSCASTS' COVERAGE’ WAS.” In a second tweet, Stelter added “It's as if Trump said ‘the whole city is flooded!’ when actually ‘a few blocks of the city are flooded.’”
As with all media studies, reviewing the totality of media coverage is logistically impossible. As a reasonable proxy for the establishment media, we reviewed all of Trump’s coverage on the most watched news broadcasts in America, i.e, the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening newscasts. It is extremely doubtful that the tone of Trump’s coverage was significantly more positive at other establishment media outlets, such as CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times or The Washington Post.
