Attendees at ADWEEK’s Mediaweek event received news they could use on Monday. The dynamic CNN duo of NewsNight anchor Abby Phillip and chief media analyst Brian Stelter took the stage for a TVNewser-hosted panel exploring the past, present, and future of presidential election coverage on the major cable networks.
The panel was a homecoming of sorts for Stelter; two decades ago, he created TVNewser in his college dorm room, launching him on a career path that first led to The New York Times and now CNN. “I’m just glad that TVNewser is still relevant and there’s still something to write about,” Stelter said of the blog’s 20th anniversary.
“I used to think that by the time it was 2024, broadcast TV would be dead and I had no idea what cable would look like,” he added. “It turns out, the future of media is all of the above! Nothing dies, it just gets added to.”
Phillip also addressed more recent history. On Monday night, she broke up a heated NewsNight exchange between conservative commentator Ryan Girdusky and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan that ended with both men departing the program, and Girdusky being banned from returning to the network.
“I’ve never had to kick people off the show before,” Phillip said. “I didn’t expect the fact that it would happen last night. But it was a racist comment, and he said it to someone sitting right in front of him. It just was not appropriate.”
Here are other highlights from the panel, including Stelter’s take on the current state of play at Fox News and Phillip giving the backstory on the “subclipping mafia” that’s cutting up cable news clips for social media consumption.
Phillip on the best and worst parts of Election Day coverage
