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MSNBC

SHOW: TUCKER 4:00 PM EST

July 14, 2006 Friday

CARLSON: Welcome back.

My next guest may be the most powerful man in TV news. Not Katie Couric, not Brian Williams, not even Charlie Gibson. No, the most powerful person in television news is 20 years old. He`s a college student, he`s a blgger, he works from his dorm room in Maryland.

And trust me, everyone in this business reads him every day, at least one.

Brian Stelter is the editor of "TV Newser," a Web site that has been called the "Energizer Bunny of media blogs." We`re proud to have him join us now from Baltimore.

Brian, welcome.

BRIAN STELTER, EDITOR, "TV NEWSER": Thank you.

CARLSON: When did you realize how incredibly powerful you were?

STELTER: Well, I think I`m only powerful if people are reading me. You know, it`s all about the audience.

And I think when I started seeing the traffic in 2004, with tens of thousands of readers every day, I realized, well, I`m really on to something here. TV news people really want to read aboutcom TV news people.

CARLSON: Yes. I remember being at the -- well, I first realized it at the White House correspondents dinner last year, I think, when I saw Jon Klein, the head of CNN, just slobbering all over you in (INAUDIBLE), just really fawning over you.

Is it -- is it weird to be when you`re 19 then to have the head of a cable news network sucking up to you?

STELTER: Well, I don`t know if he was sucking up.

CARLSON: Oh, he was sunking up, buddy. Let me tell you.

STELTER: Well, there`s been other times where he sent out memos saying, "Stop talking to TV Newser." And so is the president of MSNBC and so is the president of FOX News. And so it`s interesting that sometimes they do act like your best friend and sometimes they don`t.

CARLSON: Does it work? I mean, when they say don`t talk to "TV Newser," or don`t talk to Brian Stelter, do people stop talking to you? And who does talk to you, by the way?

STELTER: They might stop talking for a few days. I know that once FOX News chairman Roger Ailes got in the newsroom and said this wannabe journalist is trying to hurt us, stop talking to him. And I didn`t get any more anonymous tips for a wile. But eventually they start writing in again, because people love talking about their jobs, people love sending messages about what`s going on at their company.

CARLSON: And did you get high-level people from the -- from the three news networks calling you up and telling you things?

STELTER: Once in a while. It`s oftentimes the people on the lower end of the scale, the people just getting started, who are also fans. But it really runs the gamut. And the strange things about blogs is, sometimes you don`t know who`s writing to you.

You know, I have an anonymous tip box where anyone can write anything. And I have no idea who`s talking to me in that box. But usually it`s pretty accurate.

CARLSON: Well, the reason -- it is accurate, and that`s the reason people read you. There are a lot of sites devoted to television and TV news and cable news, but your is pretty accurate.

If you say someone is getting fired, usually that person gets fired, for instance.

How do you -- if you take a lot of anonymous tips, how do you make certain that the things you print are true?

STELTER: Well, I usually check with the network. You know, if I get a tip that says someone has been fired or someone has been hired, I`ll email to a spokesperson at the network and ask, because I know that if I screw up once really big, it`s over. You know, I lose all my credibility.

If I say Tucker Carlson is moving to 4:00 p.m., he`d better be moving to 4:00, or else I`m not going to be taken seriously. And in that way, blogs are a lot like newspapers or television.

CARLSON: I remember when you told me I was moving to 4:00. I was shocked.

How much TV do you watch?

STELTER: Not enough, actually. A lot of it comes from readers who tell me what`s going on. And then I double check, and things like that.

CARLSON: But let`s say you`re a guy who blogs about TV news for a living -- well, I guess you don`t actually do it for a living. You`re also a college student. But you do it.

What`s your day like? I mean, are you constantly marinating in TV news?

STELTER: Well, I wake up, then I blog, and I go to class, then I blog. And I go -- and I blog before I go to sleep. And it really just becomes part of your life.

I think for a lot of bloggers, they`re just out there posting in between everything else they do. You know, it`s not uncommon for me to run off and blog for five minutes in between class nowadays.

CARLSON: So what do you think of cable news? Do you like it?

I mean, with all due respect -- and I think I`ve said this to you before, and many times we`ve eaten dinner together. It`s a little odd to have an obsession about cable news. Don`t you think? What do you think of cable news? Do you like it?

STELTER: I think it`s very odd.

CARLSON: Yes, it is odd, you weirdo.

STELTER: I like it half of the time. You know, I watched MSNBC from the day it was born, and I watched FOX from the day it was born. And so I`ve seen it change over the last 10 years or so. And it`s like news half the time, and then it`s this powdery, sugary sweet substance the other half of the time that tastes really good but it`s not really news.

And I`m not saying that`s bad, but, you know, we have to recognize that people like Nancy Grace there aren`t always delivering the news that we think they might be.

CARLSON: Has she ever delivered the news, do you think? Ever? I mean, have you ever caught her delivering legitimate news? Or is it all child molesters...

STELTER: I try -- I try not to watch too much news at 8:00. Between O`Reilly and Grace, it just sometimes gets a little bit too much.

CARLSON: Is there anything you don`t like? Is there anything you`re biased against, you just don`t care for, you think it`s bad programming?

STELTER: You know, that`s a hard question.

CARLSON: Including this network. I mean, be honest.

STELTER: Well, I try to see it from the executive`s point of view. You know, I don`t like the fact that we chase after Natalee Holloway stories, but I see the ratings, so I see it works. And if it works, and it get the numbers, I can`t really criticize it. Can I? I mean, this is a business about money in the end, just like anything else.

CARLSON: Boy, you`re a cynical man at 20. What are you going to do after this? I mean, you graduate, what, next year?

STELTER: Next May.

CARLSON: So are you going to become a television executive?

STELTER: I`m not sure if I can handle that. I`m losing enough hair as it is.

CARLSON: I don`t know. I think you`d be good.

How does this help your dating life? I mean, do people on campus know that there`s this guy Brian and that he kind of retreats into the darkness of his room and types about cable news? Is that considered cool? Is that considered terrifying?

What do the other kids think?

STELTER: I don`t think most of them know about it. You know, I`ve gotten a few e-mails from students who are adding me on their face book now that they saw me in the newspapers. But I don`t think most students read blogs for a living the way I do.

So, a lot of them aren`t aware.

CARLSON: Yes. And watch as much TV as you do. You said you want to watch more.

This is a little personal, but tell me, since you are watching all the time, is there any figure in television you`ve slowly come to fall in love with?

STELTER: Not that I can thoi of, no. Sorry. Not even you.

CARLSON: Boy. You`re a -- you`re a hard man, Brian Stelter.

What`s the best -- what`s the best tip you`ve ever gotten?

STELTER: That`s really hard. I`ve gotten a lot of weird tips that aren`t true. People actually try to deceive me, and they give me actually fake information they try to get me to post on the blog.

CARLSON: Now, who would do that apart from FOX?

STELTER: Well, I don`t know. NBC, for instance, someone kept sending me tips right after Katie Couric left that were completely false, but they were signing it with a real person`s name. So they were trying to make me think it was real, and I had to call that person and say, "You didn`t really send me this, did you?"

And so I don`t know who that was sending me it, but...

CARLSON: Who`s -- and finally, who`s P.R. department is the most diabolical?

STELTER: Oh, we`re not going to get into that. That`s going to take all day.

CARLSON: Oh, be honest. It`s FOX, isn`t it?

STELTER: That`s going to take all day.

CARLSON: You`re very diplomatic. You will go far, Brian Stelter.

I`m going to read your site the second we get off the show.

Thanks, Brian.

STELTER: Thanks, Tucker.