‘This Was a Collective Failure’: Brian Stelter Says Media Must Do ‘Soul Searching’ Post-Election

During the opening of today’s broadcast of CNN’s Reliable Sources, host Brian Stelter delivered a monologue reflecting on how the mainstream media completely got this election wrong, calling it “one of the biggest media failures in many years.”

Stelter began by noting that heading into Election Night, most journalists believed Hillary Clinton would emerge the victor. He also highlighted that the majority of viewers felt the same way, and in fact, so did Donald Trump’s campaign.

However, he said one cannot just chalk this up to a shocking result.

“This was a collective failure,” Stelter said. “A failure of imagination. In some ways, a mass delusion.”

“So now it’s time for some serious soul searching,” the media correspondent continued.

After describing what he’s heard from those on social media, with responses ranging from Trump getting too much media attention to media bias tilting the race to some even saying journalism is irrelevant, Stelter concluded his monologue.

“So the bottom line is there are lessons to be learned if we are willing to learn them,” Stelter stated.

Watch the clip above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Justin Baragona on Twitter: @justinbaragona

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