Despite being host of CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” which "examines how journalists do their jobs and how the media affect the stories they cover," Brian Stelter didn’t seem too interested in speaking with a Project Veritas reporter who confronted him about the organization’s videos released this week that exposed his colleague talking about bias and propaganda at the network.
"I feel really bad for you," Stelter told the PV reporter while sporting a sweatshirt that read, “Journalism Matters. Now More Than Ever.”
“Do you report any news that [CNN President] Jeff Zucker doesn’t directly tell you to report?” the PV employee asked.
In one of the videos exposing CNN, technical director Charlie Chester explains why the network hyped the COVID-19 death count—“fear really drives numbers," he explained.
“Like, this special red phone rings and they pick it up and it’s, like, the head of the network being like, ‘There’s nothing that you’re doing right now that makes me want to stick. Put the numbers back up. Because that’s the most enticing thing that we have.’ So things like that are constantly talked about," Chester told an undercover PV journalist.
Chester also said the network engaged in “propaganda” to help get Joe Biden elected, and that they’re focusing on the allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz to get him out of office, referring to the Florida Republican as a “problem for the Democratic Party.”
The reporter asked Stelter if he had any comments about the videos and if Chester is still employed at CNN. Meanwhile, the CNN host is trying to get security.
“Are you a journalist? Are you able to report anything that’s not directly handed down from…” the reporter says, before Stelter interjects: “I report whatever I want.”