This is our daily VIP feature where we will focus coverage on the practice of journalism in the nation. We'll look to bring accountability to the mishaps, misdeeds, manipulations, malpractice, and manufactured narratives in the mainstream media, as well as any examples of press-titution. This is a daily post with updates added throughout each day, so check back to see the latest efforts as we delve into the realm of ethical contortions found in the press.
05.21.21 (Update)
Low Octane Gas Lighting – CNN
Over at CNN – after they fixed all their Chris Cuomo ethical problems by not addressing them – they will now fix our democracy by eliminating an entire political party. Don Lemon was a guest with John Berman on "New Day," and he was in full caffeinated mode in slandering the GOP. But first, he had to issue a disclaimer.
"I'm not a partisan person. People are like, 'Oh my God!' They're not going to believe that. I don't believe in belonging to a political party. I'm an independent." Then, after getting that dose of prevarication out on the table, he managed to follow it up immediately with, "But right now our democracy is in danger and that’s because of one party, and that's the Republican Party….I don't see Democrats standing up strongly enough for that."
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We'll just leave you to contemplate on your own what he would sound like if he were actually a partisan person.
Hoax And Change – MSNBC
- Joy Reid sits with one NT drone to declare politics is more important than families to the GOP.
You know comedy is afoot when Tru-Con™ expert from The Bulwark Tim Miller joins in on "The Reidout" to slam Republicans. In mewling about the lack of support for the formation of a January 6 commission, these experts declare that their family members can face death threats and they will still back Donald Trump – "Even threats against their family members don’t move them at all. Even when he threatens their lives."
Now, you may be wondering what could possibly lead to this level of imbalanced thinking, but that would only mean you have a properly functioning cerebral cortex. Joy Anne brings up Rep. Greg Pence – Mike's older sibling – and she declares that the commission would be no more than a dog and pony show, then declares, "He could not give a damn that these people wanted to lynch his brother." Setting the table for Miller, she then asks, "Is that where we are with the Republican party, that they're willing to let their family members Die at the hands of Trump supporters?"
Miller had no qualms about joining Joy in the psychosis bounce house, noting a speech Pence gave about Trump's leadership. "That broad-shouldered leadership almost got him killed. It almost got Mike Pence's family killed. It's amazing that these people are just so craven and so cowardly that they are willing to put their own family at risk!"
Something is amazing, that's for certain.
Legalized Press-titution – THE NEW YORK TIMES
David Brooks secured a one on one interview over the phone with the president, and the result is just as embarrassing as one might guess. One would guess Brooks will have trouble looking in the mirror for the rest of the weekend.
- "The values that drive him have been utterly consistent over the decades, and the policies he is proposing now are similar to those he’s been championing for decades. It’s the scale that is gigantically different. It’s as if a company that was making pleasure boats started turning out ocean liners."
- "Biden derives his worldview from lived experience, especially the world of his youth, and how his parents taught him to see that world. It created the moral underpinnings of the big legislative packages he is proposing."
If this feels like some White House script writing that Brooks is following, he basically confirms this to be the case.
- "The White House gave me a long list of various Biden legislative initiatives, showing how long Biden has been championing many of the ideas that are in his current big packages."
It is this kind of spoon-fed content that leads Brooks to make his final assessment.
- "Biden hasn’t really changed; he’s just doing everything bigger."
I don't know about Brooks, but after reading this I certainly feel like I need a shower.
Body Checking The Fact Checkers – POLITIFACT
When Joe Biden recently took a test drive in a new Ford prototype pickup truck it made news. But the gang over at Poynter are not so interested in that – they instead set out to prove that Joe really did drive that truck! It seems that on social media there is wild speculation that a Secret Service agent was actually driving the truck that had been outfitted with a passenger-side steering wheel. Yea, we know.
Meanwhile, that whole episode of the president proposing that a reporter get in front of the truck so Joe could drive over him...not such a concern.
DNC PR Firm – "THE VIEW"
- This narrative about needing to get the members of the Republican party vaccinated sure changes often.
We first were told that Republicans were being unnecessarily leery of the vaccine. Next, we heard the rage that Governor Ron DeSantis was favoring GOP voters with his elderly vaccine program. Then there were complaints that too many Republicans were refusing to get vaccinated. Then the likes of David Frum complained when noted conservatives became vaccinated. Now, we are back to needing these Trump rubes to get the shot.
But while that is an alleged concern, the White House looks less than eager. Politico reports that Meghan McCain made the attempt to get connected to the White House about vaccine messaging and how she could help out by getting vaccinated on the show. She was blown off, but not because of her lowly program.
Her co-host Whoopi Goldberg was not only listened to on the matter, she was brought into the White House to be briefed on vaccine messaging. But all is not lost in reaching those reticent Republicans – actor Nick Offerman, who played everyone's favorite libertarian on the show "Parks And Rec" will speak to Congress about messaging to those on the Right.
05.21.21 (Original)
Prose & Contradiction – POLITICO
- Biden is given credit for the ceasefire after he was discredited about it...?
In their nightly newsletter, Politico alerts us to the concept that the recently called ceasefire between Israel and Palestine was the work of President Biden.
"Israel approved a ceasefire with Hamas today after the worst fighting between the two groups since 2014. The de-escalation in tensions comes after Biden pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the violence."
This is rather surprising to learn since we recently learned Benjamin Netanyahu was not swayed at all by Biden's directive – from Politico!
"But the Israeli leader said after his call with Biden that he is 'determined to continue this operation until its objective is achieved' — laying bare an apparent distance between the two allies on a timeline to bring about a close to the fighting in the region."
It's always good to learn what news outlets do not read their own content.
Both Kinds Of Standards – CNN
Following the report yesterday that Chris was directly involved in the rehab of his brother's image, CNN issued statements. The network wagged its finger at their anchor. The executives implored him to no longer engage in the activity. Annnnnd...that was it. Everything is fixed! We then saw all the care the network has about the issue in the "report" from its junior media analyst, Brian Stelter's Boy Wonder, Oliver Darcy.
Oliver looked into the Cuomo matter and discovered that employees at CNN were "vexed" about the situation. Oh...kay. And? "CNN. Multiple CNN staffers told me they were bothered by Cuomo's conduct and the violation of traditional journalistic standards. They said he crossed a clear line and he should have known it."
Then Darcy had the temerity to type out this passage – "Journalists typically do not engage in politics so that they can cover the news in an impartial manner." This should then serve as proof that Ollie spends so much time obsessing over Fox News that he never watches his own network.
All of this amounts to – nothing. How can we say this? "In a statement, a CNN spokesperson said that Cuomo's participation in strategy sessions was improper. But, the spokesperson said, Cuomo won't face any disciplinary action."
Why should he? "Improper" behavior seen as "crossing a line" and described as being "a clear breach of journalistic ethics" is no reason for a network to do something so outlandish as taking action to preserve its integrity!
Artisanal-Crafted Narratives – NBC News
- Dylan Byers weighs in on the Cuomo matter and excuses it away.
When it comes to those of us perplexed on how a major network journalist can repeatedly violate ethical standards, Dylan is here to explain for us, the rabble among the gentry.
Here to explain this to the outraged & angry: News media is a business. Cuomo just re-upped his contract for many millions per year. CNN ratings aren’t going down bc of this. They’ve invested in him; don’t want to pay him to go away & don’t have good replacement. So life goes on! https://t.co/x3QQeOBm9E
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) May 20, 2021
The helpful thing here is Dylan making the admission that they are not a news outlet but a business. Yet...Byers also makes the admission, in mentioning the plummeting ratings, that they are failing as a business, as they are failing as a news outlet. And Byers fails in explaining any of this, as well.
Anti-Social Media – Associated Press
- Once again, the insipid practice of punishing old tweets is in play – Glenn Kessler most shocked.
The Washington Post reports that The AP has fired reporter Emily Wilder over what the news syndicate said was due to violating their standards against holding positions on political topics. The company's social media policy states that "AP employees must refrain from declaring their views on contentious public issues in any public forum and must not take part in organized action in support of causes or movements."
This sounds rather reasonable so far until you realize Wilder was just hired this month. The tweets in question are years-old entries she made in college. This means The AP fired her for items she posted prior to their hiring, and they had missed in the vetting of her before giving her the job.
Meanwhile, WaPo's Glenn Kessler was deeply bothered by this firing. As the Left has been warned for years about this canceling over archaic comments, suddenly it becomes outrageous when the standard gets applied on their side. It is rather amusing, though, to see the man who feigned outrage over Sen. Tim Scott's family history just weeks ago so upset over conservatives who feigned outrage.
Amazing how quickly a talented young reporter's career can be snuffed out by a Twitter mob that decided to feign outrage over some college tweets. And if @vv1lder somehow violated @AP's social-media rules, the solution is to offer guidance, not termination, to a new reporter. pic.twitter.com/PuGAwN0Aot
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) May 20, 2021
Evolving Plotlines – ASSOCIATED PRESS
Call this "creeping awareness" settling in, or possibly "dawning of reality" at The AP. The Chinese authority has been releasing a series of videos with Uyghur citizens coming forward to speak glowingly of their benevolent dictators. These propaganda clips are meant to fight back against reports from the West that the Chi-Coms have been oppressing this class of people on the mainland. While most people would look at these videos with the most dismissive levels of cynicism, over at the AP, they are just now coming around on the concept.
"A text obtained by the AP shows that the videos are part of a government campaign that raises questions about the willingness of those filmed." Well, as long as questions are being raised, we suppose this can be considered growth.
"China's track record in Xinjiang and its documented abuses of Uyghurs have led many experts to conclude it’s more likely those in the videos were forced to take part."
Let's give The AP time to catch their breaths now that they have caught up with the rest of us.
Pounce Of Prevention – THE HILL
Once again, Republicans exhibit some of the worst aspects of human nature by noticing things are happening. But give The Hill credit here, as they were not content to just go with one tired reportorial cliche, they also drop in an "unexpectedly" when referring to dismal economic figures.
Republicans have pounced on unexpectedly high inflation readings and a disappointing jobs report for April, arguing they are the products of an overzealous government response that could kneecap the economy. https://t.co/Gck4lZrvBF
— The Hill (@thehill) May 20, 2021
