Brian Stelter gives fats a bad name

Thoughts from the 42nd Parallel ^ | 04-12-2021 | Tom Shattuck

[calvincaspian]

Most television news hosts are spokesmodels. They’re attractive and able to read. Somebody smarter develops the stories and writes the scripts and the telegenic anchor adds colorful inflection, emotive facial reaction and mechanical direction.

Sometimes an anchor will engage in fiery debate with a guest. When that happens, often it is the producers who are intensely shouting information and talking points down the line to provide the illusion that the statuesque host has some depth. This is why good producers are so valuable, they are the ones furiously feeding cannon shells into the otherwise empty Howitzer (the host).

When a host on cable news is not attractive but has a high profile gig it is usually because he or she has some specialized expertise or insight . Maybe he’s a doctor, maybe she’s a lawyer.

And then there is Stelter.

Stelter is fat. He’s also bald and bald in a way that you rarely see anymore since shaving the head became cool. Stelter and Stephen Miller are the two biggest holdouts on this but that’s another conversation.

The point is that Stelter: 1) Is not good looking and 2) Has no other expertise or skill with which to compensate for this deficit.

He’s supposed to be a media expert and that’s in his title somewhere but he’s astoundingly foolish and with ratings falling has been awkwardly flailing in a desperate attempt to gain relevance.

This week, in a television news moment for the ages, Stelter devised a new attack on the great white whale, ratings monolith Fox News.

His secret weapon: Vaccine selfies.

Yes. Stelter had launched an investigation and hit paydirt almost immediately. It was both alarming and damning at once. The anchors at Fox News had not taken selfies of their vaccinations and posted them on social media.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Most television news hosts are spokesmodels."

I don't agree with that, at least as far as men are concerned. Lester Holt is good looking? Joe Scarborough? Nope. But it is certainly true of TV actors, who - in the US - are almost required to be good looking.

This contrasts with the UK, where even leading roles are often filled by actors and actresses who aren't particularly good looking, even a bit homely on occasion.

As for Stelter, he's always reminded me of George Costanza of the Seinfeld show.

[cuban leaf]

I look at Stelter and Lemon as the bottom of the barrel. I just see Lemon as an affirmative action hire. I don’t know what the deal is with Stelter. He must be someone’s cousin or has damaging info on someone. Compare them to Laura Ingraham or Tucker and they are worse by several orders of magnitude. I just don’t get it.

[Steve_Seattle]

As far as Stelter’s brilliant investigative reporting on the lack of vaccine selfies from Fox hosts is concerned, maybe it’s because the Fox hosts trust their viewers to make their own decisions about vaccines, and do not need to be prodded into action by the example of a politician or celebrity.

[teeman8r]

perhaps the selfie is the mark of the beast?

oh noes.

steltzer is an idjit... one stupid move from being showless, ie peewee

[Steve_Seattle]

"He must be someone’s cousin or has damaging info on someone."

I am now retired, but throughout my career as a City of Seattle employee, there always seemed to be one person whose success was a complete mystery. They rose through the ranks with no apparent talent, and usually ended up as a manager managing no one, a "special assignment" person who never seemed to be involved in anything of significance.

It sometimes turned pout that these people had a romantic relationship with someone in a position of power. I remember only one situation in which it backfired; a manager got a woman pregnant and began appointing her to positions for which she was increasingly unqualified. When it came out that he had cheated on one or more of the hring processes, they were both booted.

[Don W]

I had an assistant like that. Came from another department and was constantly making the most blatant idiotic errors, yet I couldn’t get rid of him. He was hauled off my site in cuffs 3 times, yet we couldn’t send him away. This went on for 4 years. He finally retired (with FULL benefits and pension), after an outside person made an accusation that stuck.

Some folks fall into the cesspool and still come out smelling like a rose. I really don’t know how, but there it is...

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

In civil service you can advance by taking written exams. A lot of civil serpents are good test takers, poor workers.

[freedumb2003]

A blog site is behind a PAYWALL?

Uh, no.

[Dick Bachert]

[Dick Bachert]

[ADemocratNoMore]

I saw the headline and my first thought was “What the blazes is Brian Setzer have to do with being fat and on TV”. Then I looked further and saw somebody mention Steve Miller. “Now they’re talking about the Gangster of Love. What gives ?” Oops - never mind.

[CharlesI]

The only reason he’s on TV is that he’s Jeff Zucker’s mini-me.

[FLT-bird]

I call Stelter “Butterball” because he looks like a Butterball turkey in a suit.