Media top headlines October 19
In media news today, Huma Abedin shares the moment Anthony Weiner admitted he shared a lewd photo, liberals lash out at Jon Stewart over his comments on Donald Trump, and CNN's Chris Cillizza uses Colin Powell's death to lecture Republicans
CNN's left-wing media guru Brian Stelter turned a blind eye to his colleague Dr. Sanjay Gupta's interview with Joe Rogan after his network praised its chief medical correspondent for daring to appear on the popular podcast.
One of the biggest media stories of the week emerged from Wednesday's installment of "The Joe Rogan Experience" when the host grilled Gupta on CNN's characterization of his use of ivermectin during his recovery from COVID, repeatedly calling it "horse dewormer."
After initially suggesting he was unaware of what his CNN colleagues said about Rogan, Gupta admitted they should not have made such claims.
The viral exchange has since gathered over 6 million views on Twitter.
Many of Stelter's colleagues praised Gupta for entering the "lion's den," with one CNN anchor even calling him a "prince." Don Lemon offered a blunt on-air denial to Rogan's claim that CNN "lied" about his ivermectin use and doubled down on the "horse dewormer" narrative.
However, CNN's own media expert had nothing to say on the subject on Sunday's installment of "Reliable Sources," which frequently ignores negative storylines for liberal outlets.
Last month, Stelter ignored the latest scandal plaguing CNN star Chris Cuomo, this time a sexual harassment allegation made by veteran TV producer Shelley Ross when the two of them worked at ABC News.
Stelter also tends to shield his allies at his direct liberal competitor MSNBC, avoiding "ReidOut" host Joy Reid's publicized spat with rapper superstar Nicki Minaj over her vaccine hesitancy, though he did address Minaj's viral tweets.
Over the summer, Stelter failed to mention CNN's awkward return of the network's disgraced legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, the departure of "The View" co-host Meghan McCain," the uproar over New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay calling the sight of American flags "disturbing," and the collapsed media narrative during the 2020 election that President Donald Trump ordered the clearing of protesters at Lafayette Square for a photo op.
Stelter glossed over the Washington Post's major correction of its January report that accused Trump of urging Georgia election officials to "find the fraud," the major MSNBC leadership shakeup, Toobin's firing from The New Yorker following his Zoom call masturbation scandal, the ousting of MSNBC contributor Jon Meacham after it was revealed that he was moonlighting as a speechwriter for the Biden campaign and the scandals that plagued 2020 media darlings The Lincoln Project.
Last year, Stelter skipped Glenn Greenwald's dramatic exit from The Intercept after the founding editor accused his colleagues of censoring his story critical of Joe Biden and ignored Twitter caving in its standoff with The New York Post over its reporting of the Hunter Biden story.
Stelter similarly ignored the controversy surrounding presidential debate moderator and C-SPAN host Steve Scully, who alleged that his Twitter account was hacked after it appeared that he was reaching out to Trump foe Anthony Scaramucci. Stelter only acknowledged the controversy after Scully admitted he lied about the hack.
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