Journalists from a variety of news outlets are jumping in to defend a Fox News reporter after he was publicly called out by a CNN public relations executive this week for daring to message some of the network’s employees for comment on a story.
On Wednesday, Matt Dornic, CNN’s lead communications strategist, posted several screen shots on Twitter of messages that Fox News media reporter Brian Flood sent to CNN staffers via LinkedIn. The messages were all basically the same, reading, “I hope all is well. I cover media for Fox News and would love to chat for a story I’m working on. … You can be anonymous, or on background or even of (sic) the record. Thanks, – Brian.”
In his Tweet, Dornic called Flood out, writing that “After all these years of covering CNN, Brian still has to troll LinkedIn for anonymous quotes (from employees of literally any department) to use in his hit pieces.”
After all these years of covering CNN, Brian still has to troll LinkedIn for anonymous quotes (from employees of literally any department) to use in his hit pieces. We’ve been forwarded over a dozen of these in the past 24 hours. 🙄 pic.twitter.com/P0LwYf6mkK
— Matt Dornic (@mdornic) February 3, 2021
While Dornic may question Flood’s methods, journalists from outlets including
The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek and USA Today responded to Dornic’s post and defended Flood.
Ben Smith, the media columnist at The New York Times, called Flood’s methods a “totally normal way to report. Maybe not at CNN? But certainly everywhere else.”
https://twitter.com/benyt/status/1357037208109264897?s=20
Julia Carrie Wong, a tech reporter for the Guardian, tweeted “This is how journalism works.”
“Eric Trump sent a very similar tweet attempting to castigate David Fahrenthold for seeking information from sources a few years ago. It’s not a good look for a CNN staffer,” she wrote.
This is how journalism works. Eric Trump sent a very similar tweet attempting to castigate David Fahrenthold for seeking information from sources a few years ago. It’s not a good look for a CNN staffer. https://t.co/vfDRwrT1UE
— Julia Carrie Wong (@juliacarriew) February 3, 2021
Others weighed in that it’s common for reporters to track down sources via social media. LinkedIn actually encourages reporters to use its site for their reporting, including to find current and former employees of companies. In a story on Wednesday, Mediaite noted that CNN reporters have reached out to Fox News staffers for comment in the same fashion.
I mean, this is often how getting a source works.
— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) February 3, 2021
How do you think journalism works?
— Kim Janssen (@kimjnews) February 3, 2021
https://twitter.com/tbridis/status/1357145083980771330?s=20
In a follow-up tweet on Wednesday, Dornic attempted to clarify that his beef with Flood is “that his stories are always full of lies and dishonestly framed.” He questioned Flood’s method of reaching out to low-level staffers — including junior administrators, show producers, and desk assistants – rather than “well-placed sources.” He said Flood didn’t target anyone more precisely than whether or not they worked at CNN.
It’s not clear what Flood was reporting on or what he may have wanted to talk to CNN staffers about. Flood did not respond to a request for comment from National Review. Flood has a history of reporting critically on CNN and other mainstream media outlets. In just the last week he’s reported stories critical of the way CNN’s Chris Cilizza and Chris Cuomo reported on New York’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and published a piece about the lack of conservative voices on Brian Stelter’s Reliable Sources.
Stelter and CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy have been engaged in almost daily Fox bashing as Fox’s ratings recover after a January slump driven by the Capitol riot.
Dornic has a history of combativeness on Twitter, particularly against Fox News, former President Donald Trump and Trump’s family members. In a mid-January tweet, he called Donald Trump Jr. a “legitimately bad human being” for his attempt to reframe the U.S. Capitol riot. In 2019, he called Eric Trump “dumb.”
https://twitter.com/mdornic/status/1349915830444843010?s=20
Dornic received criticism last month for a tweet praising the optics from President Joe Biden’s inauguration, saying that images of fireworks over Washington D.C. will “inspire our friends and shake our foes.” Dornic has said he was contrasting the optics from the inauguration to the Capitol riot two weeks earlier.
https://twitter.com/mdornic/status/1352090555342270466?s=20
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