The night before Radar Online broke the story of CNN chief Jeff Zucker’s inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, Brian Stelter smeared the outlet as “nutty” and not “swayed by reality.”
On January 4, Radar was the first outlet to publish the news of the Zucker affair to inform the public of what everyone at CNN and the rest of the corporate media already knew.
In other words, Radar told the secret the rest of the media were hiding.
And so, in a blatant act of retaliation for reporting that truth and just hours before Radar’s factual Zucker story went live, Stelter used his nightly newsletter to blast out what, at the time, seemed like a non sequitur:
On Monday a CNN spokesperson reaffirmed that Andy Cohen will be back to co-host NYE [New Years Eve] at the end of 2022, debunking a nonsensical Radar Online story that swept across gossip sites earlier in the day. I have some personal experience with Radar’s lies, so allow me a short rant. They post something nutty; they claim to have multiple sources, but they don’t check with the subject at all, and they aren’t swayed by reality. Ordinary users end up reading, sharing, and sometimes believing a lie without realizing the original story was garbage. Radar wins page views and loses nothing because it had no credibility to start with. Sad!
People were probably reading that and thinking, Why so much energy towards an online gossip site speculating about some guy named Andy Cohen who only works once a year?
Well, that question was answered the following day when Radar Online broke the story about Zucker and his sidepiece Allison Gollust — who also worked her way up to the number two spot at CNN, which I’m sure is just a coincidence and had nothing to do with her willingness to take a bald, middle-aged gnome into her bed.
So what we have here with Stelter — and you can bet more is coming — is an example of how Zucker’s unsavory affair with a subordinate compromised the network and its staffers. The affair was an open secret. Everyone at CNN knew about it, and everyone at CNN, most especially the on-air talent, allowed it to compromise their integrity and credibility.
In this case, what we have is Stelter (undoubtedly at the request of Zucker) smearing a media outlet for the sin of reporting the truth. That’s all Radar was guilty of — telling the truth about a newsworthy relationship between a powerful executive and his subordinate.
Imagine what that says about just how ethically and morally compromised Stelter is, about how he is willing to whore out his role as a “media reporter” to punish a media outlet for reporting the truth.
That’s not even the worst part…
Normal people don’t read Stelter’s newsletter. It’s an internal thing, a nightly piece of masturbatory material within the corporate media bubble. So what Stelter was doing was firing off a coded message to the rest of the media that said: Do not touch this Radar story about Zucker. Yes, it’s true, and you already know it’s true, but we’re not going to tell this truth, okay?
Oh, believe me, it was not a warning. No warning is necessary when it comes to the incestuous corporate media (New York Times, Washington Post, NBC, CBS, ABC, the Atlantic, MSNBC, NPR, etc.). They all protect one another. They all sleep and eat and live together. No warnings are necessary. Just guidance. Just marching orders.
So now we know just how ethically compromised, how dishonest and sleazy Brian Stelter is. He smeared a media outlet; he punished them for reporting the truth.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.
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