“There is no defense here.” Even CNN’s former media janitor Brian Stelter couldn’t find it in him to throw rhetorical sawdust on the liberal media’s regurgitation of Hamas propaganda and misreporting of the blast at a hospital in Gaza. In a Wednesday appearance on NewsNation’s Dan Abrams Live, Stelter ripped into the media for their “atrocious” coverage of the blast and said they lacked “common sense” when they parroted unbelieve death toll numbers Hamas gave them, just minutes after it occurred.
“Hamas is not a credible source for information period. And yet, so many in the media treat them as if their statements just as reliable as any other government statement,” host Dan Abrams emphasized as he was leading into his interview with Stelter.
Stelter noted that he’s usually the one defending the media, but this time “there is no defense here.” “This was an atrocious series of mistakes by many different major newsrooms all around the same time on Tuesday,” he decried. Worse yet, he warned: “I don't think there's been a follow-up or accountability to make sure doesn't happen again.”
He took the media to task, for not having high standards “when the stakes are highest”:
I've noticed oftentimes in breaking news stories, breaking news scenarios when information is lowest interest is highest. By the time we actually know the facts, people move on. Well, this was one of those cases, but it was even worse because when the stakes are highest, it seems the standards were the lowest and it should be the opposite. The standard should be the highest when the stakes are as high as they are.
Breaking down the different aspects of what made the media’s reporting on the story so grossly negligent, he took issue with how they immediately called it an airstrike. “I don't know why this was called a strike right away. Why not ‘an apparent explosion?’” he wondered.
He also called out their lack of “common sense” when repeating Hamas’s claims about the death toll. “[H]undreds of alleged deaths when it had only been 30 or 60 minutes since the explosion. Common sense would indicate that we didn't know yet how many people might have died,” he scolded them.
As NewsBusters reported at the time, CNN’s Jake Tapper proclaimed – in all seriousness – that he had “no reason to doubt” the numbers that were coming from Hamas; that 200-300 people were killed. Definitely a tremendous lack of common sense.
“Do you think this is based on bias in the media against Israel? Is it just laziness? What's the reason?” Abrams asked him.
Stelter initially chalked it up to outlets rushing to get the story out, but he pivoted to suggesting it was because they were being biased against Israel and holding them to a higher standard:
But, you know, I do think it's important to analyze the Israel part of this. Israel is not perfect. The IDF is not perfect. I've questioned Israeli officials on live TV in the past. They deserve scrutiny, but Israel is a functioning democracy with a vibrant press. And I think in some ways, perhaps Israel is held to a much higher standard than sources on the Gaza Strip, for example. I think that might be part of the problem.
He concluded by lecturing his media colleagues on how they should be like doctors and “do no harm” when reporting from disaster areas, both natural and manmade. “Don't make a terrible situation worse. War is already Hell. It should not be made worse by misreporting,” he said. “But I fear that on Tuesday the media made a bad situation worse. They actually did harm as opposed to trying to the opposite.”
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
NewsNation’s Dan Abrams Live
October 18, 2023
9:09:35 p.m. Eastern(…)
DAN ABRAMS: Hamas is not a credible source for information period. And yet, so many in the media treat them as if their statements just as reliable as any other government statement.
Joining me now, Brian Stelter, special correspondent for Vanity Fair, fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media Politics and Public Policy, and former anchor on CNN's Reliable Sources. Brian, what do you make of this?
BRIAN STELTER: You know, sometimes Dan, you're out there criticizing the media and I want to defend the media. But there is no defense here. This was an atrocious series of mistakes by many different major newsrooms all around the same time on Tuesday. And unfortunately, I don't think there's been a follow-up or accountability to make sure doesn't happen again.
I've noticed oftentimes in breaking news stories, breaking news scenarios when information is lowest interest is highest. By the time we actually know the facts, people move on. Well, this was one of those cases, but it was even worse because when the stakes are highest, it seems the standards were the lowest and it should be the opposite. The standard should be the highest when the stakes are as high as they are. Right.
ABRAMS: What are you most concerned about in terms of the media coverage that that we've seen so far?
STELTER: I don't know why this was called a strike right away. Why not “an apparent explosion?” I don't know why reporters went with those huge reports of deaths; hundreds of alleged deaths when it had only been 30 or 60 minutes since the explosion. Common sense would indicate that we didn't know yet how many people might have died.
There is no doubt this was a tragedy at the hospital. But there was this rush to judgment based on a one-sided story from a – whatever the opposite of a reliable source is. And that's what was so disturbing about Tuesday.
And like I said, because there hasn't been a follow-up, a kind of series of accountability I'm worried that it could keep happening.
ABRAMS: Let me ask you the big-picture question. Do you think this is based on bias in the media against Israel? Is it just laziness? What's the reason?
STELTER: I think it's more about laziness – It's more about a rush to report whatever is new. After all, the word “news” as the word “new” in it. There's always a desire to get out whatever you're hearing most recently.
But, you know, I do think it's important to analyze the Israel part of this. Israel is not perfect. The IDF is not perfect. I've questioned Israeli officials on live TV in the past. They deserve scrutiny, but Israel is a functioning democracy with a vibrant press. And I think in some ways, perhaps Israel's held to a much higher standard than sources on the Gaza Strip, for example. I think that might be part of the problem.
I remember, Dan, the first time I ever went into the aftermath of a natural disaster. Thankfully, not manmade disaster like this war. But I was heading into the aftermath of a tornado. And I thought to myself, what does a journalist do in the middle of an emergency? First, do no harm. You’re like a doctor. Don't make a terrible situation worse. War is already Hell. It should not be made worse by misreporting. But I fear that on Tuesday the media made a bad situation worse. They actually did harm as opposed to trying to the opposite.
ABRAMS: Brian Stelter, thank you. Appreciate.
