The Media Research Center’s Nicholas Fondacaro has a new favorite media-basher — and, more to the point, someone who bashes CNN media reporter Brian Stelter — judging by the giddy tone of his July 16 post:
Things got a little heated during CNN’s Reliable Sources on Sunday when former Editor for The New York Observer Ken Kurson called out the media for acting as the opposition party to President Donald Trump. “ So, the idea here is that the media have become the opposition to Trump … I mean, just listening to the intro to this show,” he told his host, CNN’s ridiculous figure Brian Stelter. As would be expected, that didn’t sit well with Stelter who pretended the media don’t have a disdain for the President.
[…]The hypocrisy was staggering according to Kurson, who noted that “we’re talking about a newspaper that holds itself out as the most dignified place for American thought and journalism today, and this is what they put forth.” It’s a common narrative among media elitists like Stelter to pretend that news organizations have no editorial control over what it is they print or say.
[…]“I think a lot of journalists are against lying, against deceit. That’s where we are right now,” Stelter shot back at one point. Kurson made it clear that he stood against those things too, but warned that “when you have a system where the outrageous attack is what’s rewarded with likes on Facebook and followings on Twitter you are setting yourself up.
In all his giddiness, Fondacaro forgot to mention a couple of important things. First: Kurson’s former employer was owned by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Trump. Second: Kurson has been described as a “friend and associate” of Kushner who helped Trump write a campaign speech he delivered to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
In other words, Kurson is a pro-Trump shill, and it’s no surprise he spouting the Trump White House’s anti-media agenda.
That bias seems important to disclose to readers. But Kurson’s bias mirrors that of Fonadacaro and the MRC, so he probably didn’t even notice his hypocrisy.