NewsBusters Podcast: Brian Stelter Defines the 'Reliable Source' as Liberal

July 25th, 2025 10:58 PM

Is Brian Stelter tremendously unaware of what CNN sounds like?  Brian’s so-called "Reliable Sources" newsletter seems to be currently based on the concept that the only sources that are reliable are the ones that hate Donald Trump with an unquenchable passion. Everyone else is meek and cowardly. Any concession to Trump and somehow authoritarianism is on the march.

The current onus of concession is the Paramount merger with Skydance. In his newsletter on Friday, Stelter freaked out over the merger, insisting CBS is caving to an authoritarian, just as media outlets allegedly submitted to Viktor Orban in Hungary. 

Stelter began his Friday newsletter with the headline: The Orbán playbook? The Paramount-Skydance saga "reeks of Orbanism. That's the assessment of Gábor Scheiring, who experienced Viktor Orbán's autocratic power plays in Hungary firsthand as a member of the Hungarian parliament."

But who's really the authoritarian in this critique? Scheiring hates "authoritarian capitalism" and it's quite clear he's on the hard left. He touts being backed by the Rosa Luxemberg Foundation in Germany. Rosa was a Marxist, but don't worry, they're looking for "democratic" forms of socialism. Honk if you can find democratic Marxism anywhere. 

Stelter and his Hungarian expert think one of the most Reliable Sources is CBS "comedian" Stephen Colbert, whose show will be ending in ten months. Then there are the screechers at 60 Minutes. Anyone who would seek to curtail their incessant partisanship, including their promotional interviews with every Democrat from Biden to Harris to Obama to both Clintons – they’re bowing to an aspiring tyrant. They're not fearless or independent when it comes to interviewing Democrats. 

Nevertheless, Stelter lectured "the democratic backsliding in Hungary was partly achieved through media capture and control of culture." The liberal media have achieved capture, and don't want anyone to challenge them. Stelter quoted Biden's ambassador to Hungary, a gay-rights activist named David Pressman, comparing Trump to Orban in The New York Times: "here, too, powerful people are responding to authoritarian advances just as their Hungarian counterparts have — not with defiance, but with capitulation, convinced that they can maintain their independence and stay above the fray."

We also discuss James Carville's newfound admiration for Rupert Murdoch, and David Folkenflik toeing Stelter's line on mergers. Enjoy the podcast below, or wherever you listen to podcasts.