Katie Couric’s deceptive film ‘Under The Gun’ just got shot down; the story’s a big yawn for CNN

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One of the biggest media stories to come out last week was the monumentally deceptive act of editing of a so-called documentary on gun violence called “Under The Gun.”

Narrator and executive producer Katie Couric and director Stephanie Soechtig both came under fire for what NPR referred to as a “manipulative” film.

The weekly CNN program “Reliable Sources,” which focuses on analysis of the American news media and how journalists do their jobs, should have been tailor-made for the story. However, when Sunday came around, host Brian Stelter never once mentioned Couric’s name.

The Daily Caller reported a possible reason for the network’s silence:

Turns out that [Jeff] Zucker, the president of CNN Worldwide, ordered Stelter to not run any segment on Couric. After all, Zucker and Couric are old friends who worked together on NBC’s “TODAY Show.” Couric was a famed co-host and Zucker was executive producer. Zucker also produced Couric’s daytime talk show that tanked after two seasons.

 

Apparently being “The most trusted name in news” has its limits.

“Under the Gun” premiered on EPIX two weeks ago, and last week the film’s fraudulent editing was discovered, designed to make gun enthusiasts and Second Amendment activists look totally clueless.

It was only when an audio of the segment came out that the deception came to light.

And now EPIX has washed its hands of the film.

If you go to EPIX’s website and attempt to view the film, you’ll be told only that “THIS MOVIE IS NOT CURRENTLY PLAYING ON EPIX.”

Source: EPIX
Source: EPIX

Even the gun-hating, left-leaning National Public Radio called the film “manipulative.”

“This manipulation — and that’s what it was — would not pass muster at NPR under its principles for fairness in handling interviews,” it wrote.

But for CNN, it was all a big yawn.

Update per The Daily Caller:

UPDATE: CNN officially denies that Zucker ordered the show not to run anything on Couric. VP of Communications Matt Dornic told The Mirror, “The Reliable Sources team independently determines what topics and stories they cover for their weekly program. They were not under direction to exclude or spike a segment on Katie Couric’s documentary. Any assertion to the contrary is merely conspiracy theory or flat-out fiction.” The Mirror stands by the report above.

IN ADDITION: Although CNN’s “Reliable Sources” didn’t cover the controversy, program host Brian Stelter addressed it on CNN Money in a May 25 piece headlined, “Katie Couric stands by ‘Under the Gun’ as director apologizes for misleading edit.”

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