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Stelter Tries to Sterilize SOTU Ratings; Canadian Media Hold Hockey Player Struggle Session Over Laughing

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Feb 26, 2026
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Demo-lition Project – CNN

  • Classic example of making the data say whatever you like.

Following Tuesday night’s State of the Union, the numbers have come from the broadcasts, and Brian Stelter is riding in, just as giddy as can be!

He looked over the results from Nielsen, and when comparing the numbers from last year’s address to Congress, he came up with some very surprising results:

  • CNN and MS NOW saw double-digit increases!

  • Fox News fell 15 percent in total viewers

  • Fox News saw a 24 percent drop in the prime demographic

Now for reality. The dip in viewership at Fox is against last year, when Trump initially took office and carried over some hype. That said, Stelter’s “glowing” ratings wane when you see one metric: If we COMBINE the audiences of CNN and MS NOW, they barely amount to half of the Fox News viewership.

Artisanally-Crafted Media – TSN, CANADA

  • We just knew Brady would be forced through the struggle session.

After a week of imbalanced media coverage straining to tear down the accomplishments of USA Hockey, the players are returning to their NHL teams and starting back with the schedules. In Ottawa, Brady Tkachuk returned, and he had to be subjected to the Canadian press, which has been barking up a storm over any and all aspects of the politics in the aftermath.

Listen in as he faces down the local reporters, and then Claire Hannah of TSN badgers Brady with this question about the phone call with President Trump after winning the gold medal:

“Why would you laugh when they got invited?”

We seriously hope the press continues with this. All they are managing at this point is to reveal their partisan agendas.

DNC PR Firm – CNN

  • You cannot consider yourself a journalist after this…

We maintain to this day that one of the most fractured displays of imbalanced journalism took place last year during the No Kings protest. (The second one in the fall, since the initial protest apparently did not eliminate a king.) During that affair, MS NOW’s Jacob Soboroff saw an inflatable animal, and he rushed up to interview the protester ensconced inside. There was Soboroff, convinced this person had something worthy of hearing, jamming his mic into the snout of a pink unicorn.

The Democrats staged some anti-SOTU events on Tuesday, including an affair that was populated by numerous inflatable frogs. At CNN, they saw a need to highlight some of these protesters, and — much like the Soboroff encounter — we do not hear anything of value coming from these sources.

Borderline Obsessions – CBS NEWS

  • Funny how the key factor in this report does not get a key placement IN the report.

For the latest headline-outrage from the press, CBS reports that ICE has been detaining hundreds of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) cases. Sounds really cruel and punishing.

But after the scare headline and the setup paragraph, we then come across the buried lede in the story. You might have already guessed what it entails:

The statistics indicate the vast majority of DACA recipients taken into federal immigration custody during that period had criminal records.

That phrase, “vast majority,” kind of pops there, doesn’t it? Well, that is going to make things difficult for Margaret Brennan next time she wants to badger a GOP guest over the number of detainees who do not have criminal records.

First Amendment Strike Force – GAVIN NEWSOM COMMUNICATIONS

  • Maybe driving away the press is a poor choice when, you know, running for office?

Gavin Newsom has had a tough time the past month or so. And just when he is in need of a comms team that can spin and clean things up, he is sitting with a group of petulant kids who think attacking the media is edgy.

This is the group that emerged last summer and was hailed in the press for their aggressive social media content attacking the president, but in recent weeks they are turning into a batch of sour scolds.

Recently, the head of the division vulgarly responded to a request from a journalist for proof that the governor has dyslexia. Now, as outlets have been asking why Newsom was absent from a mandated state budget reveal, this same team is now declaring other outlets to be invalid news sources and, therefore, not entitled to their response.

This is a comms team that is dissolving in real time.