Another precarious year riddled with rampant cases of COVID variants and the viral misinformation that continues to override indisputable facts has come to an end with notable newsrooms indulging in the traditions of ranking the best and worst of 2021.
Over at CNN, the chatty host of Reliable Sources, Brian Stelter, formerly of The New York Times, used his final segment of the year as a brainstorming session for the industry’s brightest minds, who gathered to predict the media’s stormy forecast.
Stelter does his utmost best as CNN’s chief media correspondent, tasked with breaking down the complex relationship between the news media and an increasingly distrustful and resentful consumer base, trained to combat the “enemy of the people.”
The ironic aspect of Stelter’s weekly mission as CNN’s esteemed “truth-teller” is how his illustrious employer contributes greatly to the unsightly erosion of an ailing industry in desperate need of lifesaving measures.
During the last days of Donald Trump’s criminalized presidency, there was a general feeling of anticipation and curiosity about how a wearied nation would adjust to the normalcy of a brand new administration that’s committed to upholding the dignity of a once-revered station.
We wondered how the Trump-obsessed media would thrive without the profitable dependency on the national chaos that seasoned anchors maximize for career-making opportunities at the expense of discarded issues affecting vulnerable communities suffering from limited visibility.
Almost a year later, the season without Trump has been all about him.
The media-at-large decided to carry over the tension-filled transaction between White House communications and White House press corps, as evident during Biden’s first-ever press conference as the newly-elected Commander-in-Chief, which turned out to be a disastrous affair.
Reporters were more interested in provoking the former vice president with pointed inquiries aimed at delegitimizing Biden’s capacity to successfully lead his country out of the heavy fog accumulated over the four years of Trump’s hellish presidency and the deadly arrival of a global pandemic.
