Brian Stelter Plots Book ‘Network of Lies,’ a Sequel to Fox News Probe ‘Hoax’

Brian Steinberg
Updated ·3 min read
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Brian Stelter is getting ready to write a new chapter in his ongoing analysis of Fox News Channel.

The former anchor of CNN’s “Reliable Sources” is gearing up for “Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy,” a look at the Fox Corp. cable outlet’s trajectory following the 2020 election and through the much-scrutinized defamation trial brought against it by Dominion Voting Systems. That court proceeding is slated to open Monday.

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“Network of Lies” is billed as a sequel of sorts to Stelter’s 2020 book “Hoax,” which offered a deep look behind the mechanics of how Fox News Channel produces its news coverage and opinion programming. Stelter’s new book proposes to examine how Fox News proceeded after the election of President Joe Biden and how it oriented itself after President Donald Trump left office. The book, published by One Signal, an imprint of Simon & Schuster’s Atria division, is scheduled to debut in November of 2023.

“‘Network of Lies’ will begin where ‘Hoax’ ended — on the precipice of the 2020 presidential election,” says Stelter. “The recent revelations about Fox News and Donald Trump are nothing short of astonishing, with direct impacts on the next election, the First Amendment and our democratic values. This scandal cries out for a nonfiction examination.”

Julia Cheffetz, who supervised “Hoax,” will edit this book as well.

Fox News took a dim view of the new work.  “Brian Stelter’s lack of self-awareness after being fired from CNN for becoming an outright caricature is comical, but this is his least surprising move since telling Michael Avenatti he could be a presidential contender,” the company said in a statement.

“Network of Lies” isn’t envisioned as being solely about the looming trial, but will certainly work to put the case in context. As a result of pre-trial depositions, hundreds of texts, emails and documents have come out and the book will seek to create a chronological narrative around them.

At issue in the case are damages Dominion alleges it is owed after Fox News aired false claims about its actions and influence on the 2020 election. It is the second legal proceeding made against Fox News for its coverage of the aftermath of the 2020 race for the White House. Smartmatic, a separate voting technology company, has filed a massive $2.7 billion suit against Fox News. Both suits allege that Fox News personalies falsely claimed on air the companies had rigged the election, repeated items about the matter and then refused to engage in efforts to set the record straight. The 2020 election was not fixed and its results were certified by multiple legal processes.

Stelter, who recently served as a fellow for the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University’s Kennedy School on Media, Politics and Public Policy, is covering the Dominion-Fox trial as special correspondent for Vanity Fair.

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