Townhall's daily VIP feature with coverage on the deeply flawed aspects of journalism in the nation. We'll look to bring accountability to the mishaps, malaprops, misdeeds, manipulations, malpractice, and manufactured narratives in mainstream media.
07.16.21 (Update)
DNC PR Firm – THE NEW YORK TIMES
- Your subtle urging for statism needs more subtlety.
There is much furor in response to the White House announcement that Facebook needs to do more to de-platform misinformation on social media. Press Secretary Jen Psaki went so far as to say that if you are de-platformed from one service, you need to be de-platformed from all of them. Small matter that a number of news stories from last year declared "misinformation" (the Wuhan lab leak, Lafayette Square teargas, officer Sicknick's death, etc. ) have been proven correct and would have been grounds for silencing.
The more troubling aspect is the press being rather low-key over the matter of the government becoming involved in quieting the voices of citizens. Then there is Cecilia Kang of The NY Times, who believes that Facebook is almost obligated to assist the administration in this effort.
Wow. Remarkable statement. So much tension between White House and Facebook right now. Heard from a source that WH incredibly frustrated after months of asking FB for data on vaccine misinfo that company, despite saying in public they want to work with WH, isn't sharing https://t.co/Pp7frsOwDP
— Cecilia Kang (@ceciliakang) July 16, 2021
Artisanal-crafted Narratives – CNN
CNN is set to unveil a documentary on former network fixture Anthony Bourdain, the vituperative chef and global traveler who died from suicide. It was revealed in the course of making the film that there are segments in which Bourdain is heard reading passages that he had not in fact recorded while alive. The filmmaker used artificial intelligence to regenerate his voice so he appears to be reading aloud something he never spoke.
This type of manipulated content is not uncommon in Hollywood, or Madison Avenue, but for this to appear in the content of a documentary is rather troubling. For this to happen at CNN is less surprising, and the director addressed it in a fashion that seems in line with CNN standards.
- "We can have a documentary-ethics panel about it later," director Morgan Neville says.
Both Kinds Of Standards – MSNBC
It's of little surprise that MSNBC would follow Democratic Party lines, such as supporting unions. It is slightly surprising, however, to see the same network resisting unionization of its own workforce.
The avowed left-leaning source DiscourseBlog.com came into possession of a recent company conference call from the news network and the executives were more than a little evasive in their response to questions about the potential of its employees becoming more organized.
MSNBC Tries to Smother a Union — Audio Got Sent to Us https://t.co/2uqVCHs8Ij
— Discourse Blog (@discourse_blog) July 16, 2021
Stealth Story Evolution – THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Times had to issue an apology regarding a profile it ran about Olympian Michael Phelps. The reporter on the piece, Karen Crouse, was found to have also had a contract in place to write a biography on the famous swimming legend, and this led to The Times issuing a correction.
- "After this article was published, editors learned that the reporter had entered an agreement to co-write a book with Michael Phelps. If editors had been aware of the conflict, the reporter would not have been given the assignment."
There are a number of questions this raises about the internal communications of the editorial staff, and Crouse having some ethical lapses in not revealing things properly to management.
The bigger question though is how this was regarded as a mystery when the news of her writing on Phelps had actually been reported elsewhere.
- "Pat Forde wrote about the arrangement between Crouse and Phelps in an article for Sports Illustrated. 'Phelps is working on a book with Karen Crouse of The New York Times that he says goes into greater detail about his struggles outside the pool.'"
07.16.21 (Original)
Legalized Press-titution – MSNBC
- Stephanie Ruhle is living the dream, just like Barbie, in Biden's America.
One of Joe Biden's biggest cheerleaders, Stephanie Ruhle, could not contain her giddiness over the prospect of Biden delivering huge amounts of cash to citizens. Stephanie mentioned how "The Democrats have passed $3.5 trillion - with a 'T' - dollars worth of help." Her excitement continued as she introduced her panel of experts – a group of pundits with no economic expertise, and none of whom mentioned inflation and how this spending will only supercharge that problem.
But she went into full ebullient mode over this free money, describing it as, "This is the kind of spending bill that could break records. It is the Barbie Dreamhouse of improvements to the human condition."
MSNBC's @SRuhle claims Dems planning to spend trillions on socialism will build "Barbie Dreamhouse of improvements to the human condition" pic.twitter.com/UzV2P0jUHo
— Kyle Drennen (@kjdrennen) July 15, 2021
DNC PR Firm – ASSOCIATED PRESS
There has not been much in the way of criticism this week from the press over some of the severe steps at overreach we have seen from the Biden administration. For one, they want to coach social media companies on what type of messaging they need to have clamped down and corrected, if not outright silenced. The other drastic proposal is the administration addressing what they deem to be misinformation via text messaging and working with cellular providers to address this perceived problem.
With much pushback being seen to this proposal, the AP is here to rush to the aid of the Democrats. The DNC is not going to be looking at your private text messages, says the news syndicate. "The DNC isn't infiltrating personal texts, nor is it working with mobile phone carriers like Verizon or T-Mobile to dispel misinformation. The DNC is simply notifying SMS aggregator companies, like Twilio and Bandwidth, when it believes a political mass text is fraudulent or violates the company’s messaging policies."
See? This is not a huge leap of statist authoritarianism on big business and personal privacy – it is only creeping statist authoritarianism on big business!
The Democratic National Committee’s crackdown on vaccine misinformation doesn’t include spying on private text messages, as some social media users and lawmakers have claimed. Here are the facts. https://t.co/4maY50H0Lm
— AP Fact Check (@APFactCheck) July 15, 2021
Glossary Over Things – LOS ANGELES TIMES
- When the party of science ignores biology in the name of wokeness.
The LA Times is hot on the case of the latest battle on the front of transgender rights, this one involving a biological male being permitted to parade around the women's locker room starkers. As a new editorial describes it, "The fracas over a transgender woman using the clothing-optional women's area of a Koreatown spa is more complicated than it might seem." The tip-off here is when they employ the use of the term "complicated," you can be sure that redefining social norms is on the horizon.
In this case, women were bothered by the fact that the trans individual had blatantly male appendages on full display. Only these women were being intolerant for recognizing a penis as a penis, it seems.
- "There is no doubt that Wi Spa did the right thing in defending the right of a transgender customer to be nude in the women's area, even though the sight of male-appearing genitalia discomfited at least one female customer, who complained at the front desk."
This is now where we have arrived; if you self-identify otherwise, your actual genitalia only appears to be of another gender.
Editorial: Transgender spa customers have the same rights as everyone else (via @latimesopinion) https://t.co/0PL54lUZq3
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) July 6, 2021
Stealth Story Evolution – JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF HEALTH
Doctors from the Johns Hopkins School of Health have alerted that in 2020 there was a sharp and surprising rise in drug overdose deaths last year, tied to the pandemic. If this sort of pings in your memory as a not surprising fact, this is for good reason. Last year, there were many who were issuing warnings that the prolonged shutdowns would lead to this very problem. The issue was there were just as many in the press who were downplaying and dismissing these warnings.
For the media to come forward with concerns today becomes another addition to the growing list of stories they need to re-address after these same press members dismissed the warnings. This was primarily due to journalists having a reflexive opposition to anything President Trump might say. Yes, Trump had been one of the leading voices to issue concerns about overdose dangers in the shutdown era. And yes, the press dismissed his words as a knee-jerk reaction.
This week Johns Hopkins expressed dismay over a sharp rise in overdoses during the pandemic.
— Brad Slager - In Trouble More Than Pres. Biden (@MartiniShark) July 16, 2021
Also this week, many question how they, and journalists, act surprised. This was voiced last year but the press tossed it aside, since it came from the President.https://t.co/2SLSQ14X6q
Reporting On The Mirror – CBS NEWS
At CBS News, reporter Kate Smith has announced her resignation. Smith states that she is leaving in order to dedicate herself fully to covering reproductive rights.
Personal news:
— Kate Smith (@byKateSmith) July 15, 2021
I quit my job at CBS News. Covering a beat like reproductive rights at such a legendary institution has been an amazing experience. Thank you to the people that made it possible: My talented colleagues & the courageous people that trusted me to share their stories.
What makes this curious is that she has largely already been covering that topic for the network. She stated her departure was due to wanting to be more candid in her coverage, and she felt she could not be fully unbiased while working at CBS. This is actually a noble stance for her to take, but it is a curious one at the same time. Her views on abortion have not really been a mystery, and the network has clearly allowed her perspective to be heard in her reporting. Maybe now she wants to participate more in the pro-choice movement, rather than just report on it – for the benefit of the movement.
Pulitzer Prize Nomination – SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
On the Discovery Channel, it is "Shark Week" (and at the National Geographic network NatGeo, they have a competing lineup), so shark news is sure to rise to the surface. In a new report from Australia, they are looking to rebrand shark attacks. Now, if there is, in fact, an encounter with an apex predator from the ocean leading to serious injury, "Authorities in Queensland and NSW are signaling a shift away from describing encounters between sharks and humans as 'attacks,' a move scientists say is both welcome and well overdue."
A senior Queensland official would prefer using "bites" over "attacks" based on social research. Another department spokesman said their office generally refers to "incidents" or "interactions" in shark reporting. Euphemisms will surely lead to more safety.
Sure. And the term 'shark' sounds a bit pejorative ... let's go with something friendlier.
— Ben Langford (@Lang44d) July 14, 2021
Toothy Smilefish?https://t.co/Wpr0k0cewf
