CNN could use some self-reflection when it comes to media slogans

“Hands up, don’t shoot” was an obvious first choice. That slogan, chanted by activists in the streets, was born from the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, by a police officer. Of course, it wasn’t true: Brown had struggled with the officer and reached for the officer’s gun, a fact that even former President Barack Obama’s Justice Department supported. But the slogan took off anyway.

CNN’s Emanuella Grinberg wrote an entire piece about why the “hands up” gesture and accompanying slogan resonate “regardless of evidence.” In fact, this slogan made it all the way to CNN’s airwaves, with several hosts participating in the evidence-free narrative.

How about “credibly accused”? That was one CNN trotted out during the confirmation process of Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh was indeed accused of sexual misconduct, but credibly? The actual story from that saga was that the most “credible” accusation against him was directly contradicted by every witness the accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, claimed was at the party. Ford also could not determine where or when she was accusing Kavanaugh of misconduct.

For his part, Stelter was not too worried about the “credible” part of that slogan as he was hosting lawyer Michael Avenatti, who became media-famous because he was promoting the most absurd allegations against Kavanaugh yet.

Was “Russian bounties” a slogan? If so, that would fit the bill here, as the story shows that President Joe Biden did not hand down sanctions on Russia over the allegation that it was placing bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan when the intelligence community backed off of the reports. CNN was one of the many that accused former President Donald Trump of looking the other way on these “bounties,” to the point that host Jake Tapper went after Fox News’s Chris Wallace for not asking Trump about it.

In the context of the Steele dossier, several CNN personalities treated “corroborated” as a slogan. That may look silly now that the alleged main source for the dossier, Igor Danchenko, was arrested and charged with five counts of making false statements to the FBI, but even last year, the Washington Post’s Erik Wemple took CNN to task for touting that the dossier was “corroborated.”

Stelter was focused on how the GOP uses slogans in its own favor. He’s a partisan after all, so that’s no surprise. But there is an interesting conversation to be had about how media slogans make you stop thinking. If CNN ever wants to be treated seriously outside of its liberal audience, perhaps Stelter may have it someday.