Brian Stelter faces pushback after claiming CNN’s public reprimand of Chris Cuomo was ‘real punishment’

CNN’s left-wing media guru Brian Stelter has suggested that the network’s public rebuke of colleague Chris Cuomo for his involvement in his brother’s political scandals was enough punishment, with which critics are strongly disagree.

In Sunday’s “reliable sources”, Stelter admitted that the network faced a “conundrum” without a “perfect solution” following recent revelations that his star host helped New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo as his team was responding to allegations of sexual misconduct earlier. This year.

Stelter appeared to praise CNN’s handling of his beleaguered host.

“CNN management said in May that Chris crossed the line in doing this and he apologized to his colleagues for it,” Stelter told viewers. “Some critics have said he should have been suspended or even fired. But I will level up with you.”

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“Telling a well-off host to hang out by the pool for a few weeks isn’t real punishment,” Stelter said as Cuomo reportedly began his “long-planned vacation.”

“Scolding a host in public, saying that what he did was ‘inappropriate’ is a real punishment,” he added.

Media experts don’t see it that way.

“A real reprimand is real, tangible action. Suspension without pay. Termination. Not keeping someone completely compromised on the air,” Fox News contributor Joe Concha told Fox News. “And more than a few journalists on the left, on the right and in-between have called for his suspension or dismissal outright.”

MSNBC opinion columnist Laura Bassett is one such reporter, calling on young Cuomo to “step down from political coverage or be fired.”

“New Yorkers deserve better than a liar, harassing and misogynist who presides over the state. And CNN viewers deserve better than a news anchor who works for a politician he covers and helps manipulate public opinion about it, ”Bassett wrote last. the week. “The two Cuomo brothers have amassed tremendous power and influence, while betraying public trust. And both brothers have to go.”

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Tom Elliott, founder and editor of media firm Grabien, agreed with Bassett, telling Fox News: “It doesn’t take a seasoned media reporter to know that the only logical punishment here is immediate dismissal.

“This is the best thing Governor Cuomo could have asked for: a total blackout on his myriad of scandals during the ostensibly top rated hour on the network,” Elliott said, alluding to CNN’s ban on the network. young Cuomo to cover up his brother’s political woes on -air.

Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan also called on CNN to suspend the “Cuomo Prime Time” presenter.

“On Monday night, Chris Cuomo will not be on the air as he begins a supposedly long overdue vacation. It should be turned into – at least – an unpaid suspension of significant duration,” Sullivan wrote. . “And CNN should be transparent with its viewers that its host has acted unethically and that the network will not tolerate it.”

Sullivan’s colleague at the Washington Post, media critic Erik Wemple, accused Stelter of whitewashing the network scandal, arguing that CNN should investigate Chris Cuomo.

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“AG’s report, of course, focuses on Andrew Cuomo’s conduct, not Chris Cuomo’s. This is why CNN must commission its own report to determine how well its star anchor fits into this. pushback effort against sexual harassment. What, precisely, does he say in the conference calls? ”Wemple asked himself Monday.“ We asked CNN categorically: Has CNN taken any steps to investigate on Chris Cuomo’s activities? No response yet. “

NewsBusters editor-in-chief Curtis Houck lambasted Stelter’s assessment that CNN’s public comments on Cuomo are punishment enough.

“The idea that a public outcry is somehow enough punishment for a horrific breach of basic journalistic ethics and conflicts of interest is laughable,” Houck told Fox News. “Instead of looking inside and / or trying to put together a show that actually talks about the journalist profession that calls for bullets and strikes, Stelter showed on Sunday that he prefers to continue cleaning and masking all wrongdoing by his allies or colleagues is caught in the process of enacting. “

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However, Cornell Law School professor and media critic William A. Jacobson insisted that the Chris Cuomo saga was a “management problem” and that calls for accountability should be directed at those who are. at the top.

“The problem from the start has been a management problem,” Jacobson told Fox News. Anyone could have predicted, and many did, that Chris Cuomo covering his brother the Governor was a bad idea that posed obvious and potential conflicts of interest. CNN management ignored these obvious warning signs. “

“I don’t think Chris Cuomo should be fired or suspended for doing what Chris Cuomo is doing, but management needs to be held accountable,” added Jacobson.

Tom Jones, media editor for the Poynter Institute, also refrained from calling for Cuomo’s head, but stressed that the damage to himself would be lasting.

“Chris Cuomo is always going to have a credibility problem among some viewers. The only thing that could fix that is something that doesn’t exist: a time machine,” Jones wrote.

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Concha also told Fox News that CNN’s problems plague the network and that Stelter’s “shoot” can do nothing to quell them.

“CNN’s crisis management efforts by its media manager and all the turn of the world will not ring that bell,” Concha said. “From an ethical standpoint, this is the lowest point the network has seen in its 41 years of existence. Without a doubt.”