Sneak peek at this Sunday's show
By Pallavi Reddy, CNN
It’s been hard this week to not hear more about the controversy surrounding Herman Cain’s sexual harassment allegations from over a decade ago. This week we’ll have the reporter who broke the story, Politico’s Jonathan Martin to talk about reporting with anonymous sources. He’ll be joined by Loop21.com’s Keli Goff and conservative columnist Kathleen Parker. They’ll also discuss the racially-charged words that have been used covering this story and Cain’s campaign.
We’ll also have two TV critics to give us their thumbs up or down for NBC’s new magazine show “Rock Center.” TV Newser’s Gail Shister and TVHowl.com’s Adam Buckman will be on this Sunday.
Mark Whitaker, CNN’s executive vice president and managing editor, rounds out the show this week. He’s on to talk about race in media and his path to the top as the first African American editor of Newsweek and Washington Bureau Chief at NBC.
Plus, Howard Kurtz will give dish on what he thinks about the frenzy around the Kardashian divorce this Sunday at 11a.m. EST on CNN.
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Brian Stelter is the host of "Reliable Sources" and the senior media correspondent for CNN Worldwide. Before he joined CNN in November 2013, Stelter was a media reporter for The New York Times. He is the author of the New York Times best-seller "Top of the Morning."
Here's his biography. You can read his stories on this blog and at CNNMoney.com/Media/.
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This is going to be the last time I watch RS. Perhaps I will check back in a few months to see if these behaviors have changed or improved:
1.Stop Interrupting the guests! H.Kurtz personal remarks are not important to me. He is there to LISTEN, Guide, and Ask Relevant Questions. He does none of those well. Interrupting the guests reminds me of O'Reilly and Limbaugh. Rude and Arrogant.
2..H.Kurtz speech impediment will be much less noticeable if he would just Talk S L O W E R!
As an employment lawyer who represents employees in discrimination cases, including sexual harassment, it is incredible that attorneys for the Restaurant Association would not have explained to Cain exactly what he did that caused the women to complain and to require that he undergo some kind of training to insure that the incident was not repeated. Whether the Association agreed that the comments amounted to sexual harassment, it would be irresponsible for those attorneys to not advise their client that Cain needed to be sensitized to this issue to avoid a repeat, particularly after the second, apparently separate claim of sexual harassment. Thus, it is questionable that Cain claims not to remember details of the incidents.
Cain's lack of memory is also questionable because such an accusation is not something that one would be expected to forget. The lack of memory can easily be construed as callousness or indifference regarding these charges. It invites the media's scrutiny and the voters' questions as to whether Cain understands or cares about these issues.
As for the accusers, no one should question their sincerity just because they are hesitant to take the public stage to discuss their allegations. Unlike Cain, these women have not sought the media spotlight or made themselves public figures. It is understandable these private citizens appear to be torn between allowing their allegations to be portrayed by Cain's campaign as unfounded or giving up the privacy of themselves and their families by speaking out and opening themselves up to attack. It is not an easy decision.
In short, the media coverage of the allegations that I have seen thus far is justified and should continue until Cain provides an explanation. It is very unfortunate that, in the current political climate, the far right and far left have loud enough voices to deter the truth, or at least both sides of the story, from coming out without a concomitant attack on private citizens who are drug into the fray.
Mark Whitaker doesn't look "too" black. On the screen, he and Howard Kurtz are about the same shade. So many "black" people are really all kinds of shades, often "whiter" than whites. What's the big deal? People are people.
As to Politico's sudden need to inform the public about Presidential candidates, I would remind you of John Edwards, Jennifer Flowers, Jesse Jackson's "love child" and note their silence on all of these issues until it was too late to ignore it any longer.