Chicago Thinker's Christopher Phillips smokes Brian Stelter on CNN's journalistic ethics during 'disinformation' conference

Sonni Fitzsimonds
Chicago Thinker
Fri, 08 Apr 2022 00:01 UTC

During the "Disinformation and the Erosion of Democracy" conference hosted by the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics (IOP), Chicago Thinker staff writer Christopher Phillips blindsided CNN's Brian Stelter with a question about the network's journalistic ethics and its history of spreading disinformation. Phillip's takedown comes one day after the Atlantic's Anne Applebaum infamously dismissed the Hunter Biden laptop scandal as "totally irrelevant" in response to a question posed by his Thinker colleague, Daniel Schmidt.

The conference event, "How Media Platforms Shape Consumer Realities," was moderated by the New York Times's Jim Rutenberg and featured Stelter, Stephen Hayes of the Dispatch, and Lauren Williams of Capital B.

Phillips opened by highlighting several of CNN's most notable fabrications:

[...] You've all spoken extensively about Fox News being a purveyor of disinformation, but CNN is right up there with them. They pushed the Russian collusion hoax, they pushed the Jussie Smollet hoax. They smeared Justice Kavanaugh as a rapist and they also smeared Nick Sandmann as a white supremacist. And yes, they dismissed the Hunter Biden laptop affair as pure "Russian disinformation."

Phillips then slammed corporate media outlets, implying that the one-sided nature of these "mistakes" reflects their abandonment of journalistic ethics:

With mainstream corporate journalists becoming little more than apologists and cheerleaders for the regime, is it time to finally declare that the canon of journalistic ethics is dead, or no longer operative? All the mistakes of the mainstream media - and CNN in particular - seem to magically all go in one direction. Are we expected to believe that this is all just some sort of random coincidence? Or is there something else behind it?

Stelter quickly quipped, "It's too bad - it's time for lunch."

He then offered a more lengthy reply, dismissing CNN's history of questionable reporting as "a popular right-wing narrative." "I think my honest answer to you [...] is that I think you're describing a different channel than the one that I watch. But I understand that that is a popular right-wing narrative about CNN," said Stelter.

"I think it's important, when we talk about shared reality and democracy, all these networks, all these news outlets have to defend democracy, and when they screw up, admit it," he continued.

The exchange quickly made the rounds on social media, causing "Stelter" to begin trending on Twitter.

The Daily Wire and The Blaze applauded Phillips, a college freshman, for his pointed questions:

Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald also highlighted the condescension of Stelter's response, while Mike Cernovich celebrated Phillips' takedown of "regime media":

Several other notable conservatives likewise expressed support for Phillips, including Jack Posobiec, Christina Pushaw, Mollie Hemingway, Dan Bongino, Benny Johnson, and Clay Travis.

When asked for comment, Phillips expressed his frustration at Stelter's response. He told the Thinker, "Even after speaking with Mr. Stelter after the event, I am still left without an answer to my question. Why am I - or anyone else - to believe that CNN is an impartial news outlet when its journalistic 'mistakes' systematically favor Democrats? I challenge Stelter to identify an error CNN has made that favored Republicans."

Sonni Fitzsimonds is a Senior Editor for the Chicago Thinker from New Haven, Connecticut. As a senior at the University of Chicago, Sonni studies Economics and Computer Science. In her free time, she enjoys reading, going on hikes with her dogs, and cooking for friends and family.

Comment: More from Fox News:

Stelter continued avoiding Phillips' line of questioning by pivoting to CNN assisting Fox News in Ukraine following the deadly attack on the Fox News team last month, showing how news outlets "work together," which is something Stelter said, "we don't talk about it enough."

"And with regards to the regime, I think you mean President Biden? The last time I spoke with a Biden aide, we yelled at each other. So that's the reality of the news business, that people don't see, that people don't hear," Stelter said. "They imagine that it's a situation that simply is not. But I think your question, it speaks to the failure of journalism to show our work and show the reality of how our profession operates. We have a lot of work to do, I think."

...

Phillips later thanked Stelter for following up with him after the panel discussion, but tweeted, "I am STILL wondering: if CNN is truly unbiased, WHY is every mistake they make an overstep in favor of Democrats and against Republicans??"

Stelter failed to address the substance of the questions asked by the student during the panel, particularly the list of falsehoods CNN peddled in recent years.

CNN, among the other liberal networks, famously pushed the Russian collusion narrative for much of the Trump presidency, offered sympathetic coverage towards disgraced actor Jussie Smollett, who was convicted for orchestrating a hate crime hoax, and elevated unsubstantiated claims that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a gang rapist during his 2018 confirmation hearing.

The network was also forced to settle a defamation lawsuit against former Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann, who the network portrayed as being a racially-motivated aggressor towards a Native American elder in a viral exchange.

Additionally, CNN famously spiked the New York Post's bombshell reporting on Hunter Biden during the final weeks of the 2020 presidential election.