"This is a publicity stunt but it's also inspiring," CNN's space and defense correspondent Kristin Fisher told CNN's chief media correspondent Brian Stelter on "Reliable Sources" Sunday. Branson has been competing in a space race of sorts with Amazon founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos, who is expected to head to space in a rocket ship made by his space company, Blue Origin, on July 20. The billionaire space race opens up an opportunity for newsrooms to aggressively and cohesively focus on the intersection of outer space and billionaires. The billionaire beat "isn't a luxury beat about the rich and famous doing crazy stuff," Teddy Schleifer, founding partner of Puck News, said. "These are private citizens who have enormous power, enormous wealth and are able to use it in really fascinating ways."

Source: CNN July 11, 2021 17:15 UTC