Reliable Sources

Brian Stelter speaks with Los Angeles Times DC bureau chief Kimbriell Kelly, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editor George Stanley, and Katie Townsend, legal director at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. The trio of Freedom of Information experts preview Sunshine Week, a weeklong initiative promoting open government. "There's a lot more that needs to be done to increase transparency to government at both a federal level and at a local level," Kelly says.

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Plus... How the GOP takes its "cancel culture" cues from Fox; NYT columnist criticized for conflict of interest; the ups and downs of broadcasting from home during the pandemic. Diane Falzone, Sarah Ellison, Oliver Darcy, Maribel Perez Wadsworth, Richard Palmer and Kristin Meinzer join Brian Stelter.

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At the twelve-month mark of the pandemic in the United States, COVID Tracking Project co-founder Alexis Madrigal looks both backward and forward in a wide-ranging conversation with Brian Stelter. Madrigal says the volunteer pop-up collective "stumbled into a real gap in our pandemic preparedness and then have done our best to fill it." But it was necessary because of the federal government’s failures. “Going state by state” and gathering the data “in the way that we did really put us in touch with the realities of this country right now, and not our myths about how great we are,” he says. Madrigal also explains why it is now possible to “sunset” the daily data reporting, and what more still needs to be done.

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Plus... Rep. David Cicilline says "local news is on life support" and shares legislative plans; Jill Filipovic on left-wing critiques of Biden coverage; Farai Chideya on people who "act based on their team, not based on facts;" and more. Dave Weigel, Katie Rogers, Jill Filipovic, Farai Chideya, Rep. David Cicilline, Marty Baron and Carolyn Ryan join Brian Stelter.

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Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron joins Brian Stelter for a final interview before retiring from the Post at the end of February. They discuss his career; the Post's expansion; and the news outlet's future as well as his own retirement plans. Baron says he plans to stay "active and involved" in the news industry, just not on a full-time basis. He also talks about being an editor in the digital age; the growing importance of visual storytelling; and the transition from the Trump administration to the Biden administration. 

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Plus... Power and water disasters in Texas are shining a light on local news; out-of-context headlines are clouding Covid-19 vaccine news; how Ted Cruz's trip to Cancun was exposed by Twitter sleuths; and more. Emily Ramshaw, Bill Carter, Carol Leonnig, Daniel Dale, Angie Drobnic Holan, Dr. Leana Wen, Steven Guilbeault and Jeff Jarvis join Brian Stelter.

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Steven Waldman, the president and co-founder of Report for America, connects the dots between the local news crisis, the "financialization" of newspaper ownership, and the spread of disinformation on social media. Brian Stelter also asks Waldman about the rash of recent news about the news industry, including the international implications of the Australian proposal to have tech platforms pay publishers for news, and a hedge fund’s bid to buy Tribune Publishing. Waldman says the decline of local news coverage is "catastrophic for democracy," and proposes some solutions, including tax credits and nonprofit ownership models. "In the scale of the amount of philanthropic resources that are out there... it's actually inexpensive to fix, and yet the consequences of what's happening are so severe," he says.

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Plus... Politico's editor reacts to White House aide's resignation; BBC World Service boss reacts to China's ban of the BBC; what went wrong with The New York Times' Caliphate podcast; and more. Carrie Budoff Brown, Rep. Sara Jacobs, Tina Nguyen, Erik Wemple, Lorraine Ali, Noah Shachtman and Jamie Angus join Brian Stelter.

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Brian Stelter's better half, NY1 host Jamie Stelter, takes over the podcast for a Valentine-themed episode. Jamie surprises Brian with questions submitted via social media, covering everything from work habits to pandemic parenting, from "love language" to local news. A special Sunny guest makes an appearance at the end of the conversation.

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Plus... Dominion spokesman Michael Steel explains the voting tech company's legal strategy; David Folkenflik discusses the latest turmoil at The New York Times; and Dannagal Young explains the twisted psychology of conspiracy theories. Lynn Oberlander, Brittany Shepherd, Michael Steel, David Folkenflik, Dannagal Young, and Zeynep Tufekci join Brian Stelter.

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