After the liberal media went wild for a photoshopped Time magazine cover depicting President Trump looking down at a crying immigrant girl, it was exposed that the girl was not separated from her family after all. The magazine’s editor-in-chief, Edward Felsenthal appeared on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” on Sunday to defend his outlet’s deceptive and misleading cover. Meanwhile, host Brian Stelter was worried about right-wing media pouncing on the story.
“As soon as it was revealed through an interview with the child's father that the family had not been separated there was a really strong right-wing backlash to your cover, including from the Trump administration,” Stelter prefaced. “Did you make a mistake by having this crying girl on the cover?”
Felsenthal looked past the false narrative that he and the rest of the liberal media put around the photo and citied it’s viral nature for their selection of the girl. “Look, I think John Moore's photo was and will remain an iconic one. We chose the photo because this little girl became the face of this story on front pages and home pages and TV screens and Facebook feeds,” he argued.
“But maybe she shouldn't have been the face of this story if she wasn't separated from her mom,” Stelter pushed back.
The Time EiC claimed that the mystery surrounding what happened to the girl was reason enough to allow them to use the fraudulent tale. “Well, you know, as John just said and has said all along, none of us in the media who used the photo knew what had happened to the girl after this precise moment. And I think part of the power of the image is that unknown,” he declared.
Stelter confronted Felsenthal on a story correction his outlet made that apparently proved they knew the girl’s real story. “But we made an error on a web story early in the week, not part of the cover package, in which we said that the mother had been separated, and we quickly and transparently corrected that,” he admitted. Despite that, he somehow was able to suggest they “didn't know, nobody using this photo knew on Monday or Tuesday knew that they had not been separated.”
After their short back and forth about what the media knew and when, which again proved Time knew ahead of time the narrative was false, Felsenthal suggested that the imagery was more important than the truth:
We discussed it, as we discuss every cover, and we felt that, I felt that this photo symbolized this moment in America. She became the face of this debate, of this crisis, and juxtaposing her with the person in whose decisions, in whose hands her fate was held I thought was a powerful, important statement of the decisions we have to make as a country.
Meanwhile, Stelter appeared to yell at Felsenthal, exclaiming that “[t]his was the top story on pro-Trump websites on Friday!” “It’s still a top story on some of these sites now. I mean, they're using this one issue to try to distract from what is a disgusting situation at the border,” he lamented.
Again, this shows how the media is more concerned with the look of a story that it’s accuracy. And when it comes back to bite them, they’re more worried that they were bit and not so much how they got there.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN
Reliable Sources
June 24, 2018
11:17:34 AM Eastern [2 minutes 33 seconds](…)
BRIAN STELTER: As soon as it was revealed through an interview with the child's father that the family had not been separated there was a really strong right-wing backlash to your cover, including from the Trump administration. Did you make a mistake by having this crying girl on the cover?
EDWARD FELSENTHAL: Look, I think John Moore's photo was and will remain an iconic one. We chose the photo because this little girl became the face of this story on front pages and home pages and TV screens and Facebook feeds –
STELTER: But maybe she shouldn't have been the face of this story if she wasn't separated from her mom.
FELSENTHAL: Well, you know, as John just said and has said all along, none of us in the media who used the photo knew what had happened to the girl after this precise moment. And I think part of the power of the image is that unknown. This was a girl facing -- who's coming to America, has just completed one terrifying journey, and whatever its contours, whatever happens to her faces another very frightening journey as well.
STELTER: But by Monday, of this week, we knew that she hadn't been separated from her mom. In fact, on Tuesday, you all issued a correction to a web story about that.
FELSENTHAL: That's -- I don't believe that's the case. We did make an error, which obviously, I regret and hate making errors any time.
Stelter: Sure.
FELSENTHAL: But we made an error on a web story early in the week, not part of the cover package, in which we said that the mother had been separated, and we quickly and transparently corrected that. We didn't know, nobody using this photo knew on Monday or Tuesday knew that they had not been separated.
STELTER: Well, we knew according to the government they had not been separated. But by Monday, CNN reported according to the government they had not been separated. Now, I understand we should be skeptical about what the government is saying when it comes to this story, and to this day, we still don’t know the status of a lot of these kids that have been separated. It's sickening. But just I wonder about the use of this photo and whether you all discussed whether it was the appropriate one to symbolize the family separation policy.
FELSENTHAL: We discussed it, as we discuss every cover, and we felt that, I felt that this photo symbolized this moment in America. She became the face of this debate, of this crisis, and juxtaposing her with the person in whose decisions, in whose hands her fate was held I thought was a powerful, important statement of the decisions we have to make as a country.
(…)
11:20:59 AM Eastern [36 seconds]
STELTER: And to be clear, the damage done to these families is so much bigger of a story than what happened on your cover. I am not trying to claim otherwise. But let's look at how some of the right-wing media has portrayed. I mean, here’s The Daily Caller saying, “The media’s narrative about family separation at the border has been completely demolished, as the truth over a viral photo of a crying child tells a completely different story.” This was the top story on pro-Trump websites on Friday! It’s still a top story on some of these sites now. I mean, they're using this one issue to try to distract from what is a disgusting situation at the border.
(…)
