BRIAN STELTER (HOST): Angelo, what was your reaction to Jane Mayer's story? It didn't say a lot new, but what it did is it tied all of these strands together, two years worth of conversations about Fox as a propaganda arm of the Trump White House. Why did this story matter so much, you think?
ANGELO CARUSONE (PRESIDENT, MEDIA MATTERS FOR AMERICA): I think because -- partly because of the story telling and it that it validated, and I also think that behind the scenes, it's a really big moment for Fox News. It's kicking off advertising season right now. And the major story that Fox News is saying is, we know our prime-time hosts are a little bit out there, we know our opinion people are out there, but our news is real news and it is dependable and reliable. And so this story really cut directly against the major narrative that they just started selling.
STELTER: They've really been emphasizing the news division. My view it, yeah they have a news division. It's relatively small compared to the huge opinion division which has all the highest rated shows -- Fox & Friends and Hannity and etcetera, etcetera. Both exist. But it's getting really uncomfortable for both to exist in that same body.
...
CARUSONE: My concern is that by participating in this debate, it validates a lot of the narrative that's not true about what they say. I do think it's important to speak to people that may not be persuaded by it. I think the problem is is that with the Fox viewer, they are seeped in this because the misinformation and the extremism is not quarantined to their opinion shows. If you look every single major narrative, Uranium One, the caravan -- there's a near exact symmetry between what's happening on their supposed news programs and what's happening on their prime-time.
STELTER: I mean, for goodness sakes, Ed Henry, who's one of their top correspondents, co-hosts their weekend conservative talk show. There's so much blurring of the lines every day on Fox.
...
JEFF GREENFIELD (POLITICAL COMMENTATOR): What's the problem with doing a debate with three journalists in which you use that form to say here's why your network is poisoning the conversation?
CARUSONE: I think because of what's in the Jane Mayer piece, which is that it's shifted from being politically biased and politically aligned to being something different now, more akin to a propaganda outfit. And that means I think it's a much more dangerous beast and you have to deal with it differently as a result.
