PART I - A Conversation with Brian Stelter on His Best-Seller, 'HOAX: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth'

 

About

Join Michael Zeldin as he interviews CNN anchor and media analyst Brian Stelter on his best-seller, HOAX: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth.Even before the Trump administration, communicators have long been intrigued by the curious friendship forged by conservative commentators with conservatives in government. But this was the first administration where the friendship is so obvious in its mutual dependence and co-existence.In this no-holds-barred discussion, Stelter reveals the surprising genesis of this strange friendship, how it is impacting the relationship, and how Fox News continues to chip away at our concept of Truth.

Guest

Brian Stelter

Chief Media Correspondent and Anchor of Reliable Sources

Brian Stelter is the anchor of “Reliable Sources,” which examines the week’s top media stories every Sunday at 11:00 a.m. ET on CNN/U.S, and the chief media correspondent for CNN Worldwide. Stelter reports for CNN Business, and writes a nightly e-newsletter.Prior to joining CNN in November 2013, Stelter was a media reporter at The New York Times. Starting in 2007, he covered television and digital media for the Business Day and Arts section of the newspaper. He was also a lead contributor to the “Media Decoder” blog.Stelter published The New York Times best-selling book, “HOAX: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth” in fall 2020, which tells the twisted story of the relationship between President Trump and Fox News. Over the course of two years writing the book, Stelter spoke with over 250 current and former Fox insiders in an effort to understand the inner workings of Rupert Murdoch’s multibillion-dollar media empire.In 2013, he published The New York Times best-selling book, “Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV”, about the competitive world of morning news shows. He is a consulting producer on Apple’s drama “The Morning Show,” which is inspired by his book.In 2020, Stelter executive produced the HBO Documentary, “After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News,” directed by Andrew Rossi, who featured Stelter in his 2011 documentary, “Page One: Inside the New York Times.” Stelter was also named to Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30: Media” for three consecutive years, and Fortune Magazine’s “40 Under 40: Media & Entertainment.”In January 2004, while he was a freshman at Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland, Stelter created TV Newser, a blog dedicated to coverage of the television news industry. He sold it to Mediabistro.com in July 2004, but continued to edit and write for the blog during the next three years until he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications with a concentration in Journalism. He is on the board of Baltimore Student Media, a nonprofit that publishes Towson’s independent student newspaper, The Towerlight.

Host

Michael Zeldin

Michael Zeldin is a well-known and highly-regarded TV and radio analyst/commentator.He has covered many high-profile matters, including the Clinton impeachment proceedings, the Gore v. Bush court challenges, Special Counsel Robert Muller’s investigation of interference in the 2016 presidential election, and the Trump impeachment proceedings. In 2019, Michael was a Resident Fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he taught a study group on Independent Investigations of Presidents.Previously, Michael was a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as Deputy Independent/ Independent Counsel, investigating allegations of tampering with presidential candidate Bill Clinton’s passport files, and as Deputy Chief Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives, Foreign Affairs Committee, October Surprise Task Force, investigating the handling of the American hostage situation in Iran.Michael is a prolific writer and has published Op-ed pieces for CNN.com, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Hill, The Washington Times, and The Washington Post.Follow Michael on Twitter: @MichaelZeldin