On MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Tonight, viewers were subjected to several painful minutes of self-indulgent whining over the purchase of The Baltimore Sun by David Smith, executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcasting Group. Media don’t especially appreciate losing control of an outlet.
Watch as Stelter lays out the case for why the sale of The Sun is such a terrible thing:
BRIAN STELTER: So what’s gonna happen to it now, Alex? I fear this is likely the end of the Sun as a nonpartisan, widely trusted, outlet. And there’s gonna have to be alternatives to pop up in its place. Because when these sorts of right-wing backers of media talk, they talk in code. When they say fair, what they really mean is, “we think the press is too liberal”. When they say balanced, what they mean is “we want the media to advance our political agenda, but cloak it in an all-sides claim to balance”. You know what I mean? It's that kind of code language that we’re already hearing the new owner of the Sun start to use.
You know what’s code language? Terms like “truth-based” and “disinformation”, which Stelter and his ilk constantly use in order to belittle and ostracize those outlets that are not aligned with a left-wing vision of what America should be. This entire interview is a tantrum about the fact that the left has lost a print outlet.
Notice how Stelter whines about the advancement of political agendas, as if that weren’t what the “fact-based media” does on an exclusive basis (see: laptop, Hunter Biden). The “alternatives” that Stelter is calling on to rise are left-wing alternatives. To be clear.
Any time an outlet is not perceived as reliably left-wing, you begin to hear the mumbling about “trust” and “reliable sources of information”. I know this from the great Spanish-language media wars, and how the left tries to frame conservative outlets in that space. The same thing is happening here. Stelter and Wagner ran the “Spanish-language disinformation” op, with some Old Bay sprinkled over the top.
For her part, Wagner is apparently unaware that local newspapers in fact cover such things as “crime”, which she uttered derisively, air quotes and all.
Ultimately, the purchase is not about “bringing the Fourth Estate to heel”, but about bringing it back to life with restored credibility. For the left-wing media, that’s a bridge too far.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned segment as aired on MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Tonight on Wednesday, January 17th, 2024:
ALEX WAGNER: This morning, the Baltimore Sun Guild, the union that represents the paper’s staff read a statement. It read, in part: “During yesterday's meeting…new owner David Smith shared his vision for the paper, which he admitted he has rarely read. The editorial direction that he described focused on clicks rather than journalistic value, concerned many of our members.” That nearly three-hour meeting between the Sun’s staff, and its new owner, David Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, was described as tense. Mr. Smith, who bought the paper last week, at one point, told reporters to “go make me some money.” When asked about job security, Smith said, not so reassuringly, that everyone “has a job today”. Now, David Smith is known, not only for his right-wing broadcasting network, Sinclair, but also for his support of conservative causes, and groups, including Project Veritas, Turning Point USA, and Moms For Liberty. As the new owner of a storied newspaper, Smith has claimed that print media “has no credibility”, and “is so left wing as to be meaningless dribble”. Joining me now is Brian Stelter, special correspondent for Vanity Fair, author of Network of Lies, The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and The Battle for American Democracy. And, a native Marylander who's been writing about Sinclair for decades.
BRIAN STELTER: Yes.
WAGNER: Brian, thank you for being here.
STELTER: Thanks.
WAGNER: You know better than most, that when conservatives take over media organizations, they tend to make changes. What are your expectations for a paper that’s essential as the Baltimore sun?
STELTER: Yes, I grew up reading the Sun. Often times, when I was in Annapolis, or Baltimore covering a story, the only other reporter there was from the Baltimore Sun. And although the paper has been shrinking for years, like most printed newspapers across the country, it is still the default. The go-to media outlet for a major American city. So what’s gonna happen to it now, Alex? I fear this is likely the end of the Sun as a nonpartisan, widely trusted, outlet. And there’s gonna have to be alternatives to pop up in its place. Because when these sorts of right-wing backers of media talk, they talk in code. When they say fair, what they really mean is, “we think the press is too liberal”. When they say balanced, what they mean is “we want the media to advance our political agenda, but cloak it in an all-sides claim to balance”. You know what I mean? It's that kind of code language that we’re already hearing the new owner of the Sun start to use.
WAGNER: I wonder what you- the sort of the psy- the psychological profile of someone who funds something like Project Veritas, which carries out alleged, like, “sting operations” of media groups, who says that print journalism has no credibility, and then goes and spends $100 million to buy the Sun and a few other smaller papers. Is that just the execution of a conservative agenda? To bring the Fourth Estate to heel? Or is it- is it sort of the weird, egomaniacal fixation that conservatives, like Donald Trump, have with the Fourth Estate?
STELTER: Right. It's Trump attacking the media, then caring a lot about what Time Magazine…
WAGNER: Exactly.
STELTER: …and NBC say about him. My understanding, from sources at the Sun, and around Maryland politics, is that David Smith's been trying to buy the Sun for quite some time. He sits at home, in his mansion, in suburban Baltimore, he watches what's going on in the city, and he thinks he can somehow make a difference- and let's be clear, “make a difference” means advance a right-wing agenda by buying up the only big newspaper in town. This is part of a pattern, Alex, as you said, of old school newspaper and news outlets becoming zombies. They get taken over by these right-wing buyers, they become shells of their former selves, and they become political machines. This is going to keep happening as print fades away, as attention, and ad dollars, move to digital. But Alex, there is something we can all do about it, we can all go and support the alternatives.
WAGNER: Yeah. And I want to get to that, but I do think it is important to note how the fixa- the articulated fixation on “crime” and “police" is a really important part of the ecosystem that, in turn, fuels the broader right-wing agenda. Can you talk a little more about that given your experience with Fox News where they love talking about crime, and backing the blue?
STELTER: 100%. I feel like I've been studying this for years, because you see attention on a city like Baltimore, only when there is unrest, as we saw nearly a decade ago with Freddy Gray. Only when there is a surge in crime. You know what happened in Baltimore in 2023? Dramatic reduction in the murder rate. You won't hear about that on Fox, or across right-wing talk radio. You only hear these headlines when they are terrifying, and they're used to advance a certain agenda. And unfortunately, I think it’s a force to be reckoned with in this Republican primary, but also the 2024 election. It's kind of like a spigot that's always turned on, and pumping, full blast, every day, no matter what's happening in the trendlines, or in the data.
WAGNER: Yeah. And you wonder how immigration gets to be the number one topic, and the number one voting issue in a Republican primary. This is a huge part of how that happens. So what is the newspaper going to do?
STELTER: So what do we do? We support alternatives.
WAGNER: Yeah, what’s the alternative?
STEKTER: The Baltimore Banner. It’s an amazing start up in Baltimore that's actually breaking news about the Sun being taken over. And that's what viewers can do. They can support local, grassroots news. Nonprofits, start-ups, they can go out and help create their own. That’s going to be the solution to this problem that’s plaguing the media, Alex.
WAGNER: Buy a local newspaper, that is not a conservative mouthpiece. Support your local journalism. Brian Stelter, author of Network of Lies, it is always good to talk to you. Someone so deeply entrenched in this very essential topic. Thanks, Brian.
STELTER: Thanks.
