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.
07.28.21 (Update)
Reporting On The Mirror -- GAWKER
For reasons few can figure out, the consistently self-destructive Gawker has been rebooted. After being sued into oblivion an attempt to resurrect the problematic site a few years ago fell apart under more problems revealed. Now it has once again been brought back to life, and it feels like there is already a ticking clock on its expiration date.
Staff Writer Tarpley Hitt comes by way of Daily Beast, where he was on the billionaires beat, snarking and harassing the powerful of this nation. He is presumably launching a new feature where he reaches out to the wealthy and asks them flatly, How Much Money Do You Have? His debut entry was in reaching out to Bryan Goldberg, the titan who owns the outfit in possession of Gawker. The exchange did not provide an answer, but it did deliver some poignant information.
Says Goldberg:
“There is exactly one thing that could still fuck it all up for me and cost me every dime of my considerable fortune: Gawker. If there is one website that could get me sued into oblivion, then it is almost certainly Gawker. Let’s face it — do we think that Bustle or Nylon Magazine is going to pick a petty and ill-conceived fight with a deca-billionaire? Probably not.”
And then…
"What I’m getting at, Tarpley, is this — the single biggest threat to my imminent fortune is you. I have read much of your past work, and it’s clear that you have an almost fetishistic grudge against wealthy men. Here’s the problem… it’s not Tarpley in the hot seat… it’s Bryan Goldberg. Every time you write an article about some designer-drug addled megalomaniac, it is my ass on the line. Do not ruin this for me."
-Bryan
Gawker will be worth watching as a result. Maybe not reading, but definitely worth watching.
Anti-Social Media -- THE INTERCEPT
- Now we have moved to the attempted-hate-crime era of our society.
Singer Camila Cabello recently performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. During her routine, she had an array of background dancers, all seemingly chosen for their diversity. We mean, for their dancing skills.
the familia invaded @fallontonight last night ?? #DontGoYet @jimmyfallon
— camila (@Camila_Cabello) July 24, 2021
on my team we try to create a culture of kindness, joy, & love & you could feel that this week. none of this could be possible without the dream team that makes it happen & the fans that continue to support pic.twitter.com/P001TjnLyw
One of these performers has triggered controversy, however -- over his excessive spray-tan. Yes, seriously. There were accusations that this was an example of implied blackface taking place.
the familia invaded @fallontonight last night ?? #DontGoYet @jimmyfallon
— camila (@Camila_Cabello) July 24, 2021
on my team we try to create a culture of kindness, joy, & love & you could feel that this week. none of this could be possible without the dream team that makes it happen & the fans that continue to support pic.twitter.com/P001TjnLyw
We would like to say he was appropriating Coppertone Culture, but some imply it was worse than that.
No matter the original intention, the guy's posts are telling another story – I mean, he literally compared himself to a black woman emoji. That is very clearly offensive. This is not ok, apologizing is the very least you could do.
— Bruna de Lara (@delarabru) July 25, 2021
Both Kinds Of Standards -- CNN
- It is only a health risk that will kill thousands when Republicans do it.
In response to the White House not knowing how to lead on the Covid condition Nancy Pelosi responded by issuing a new mandate that members of Congress will be required to wear masks in the Capitol once again. Lauren Boebert has been rather vocal in dismissing this requirement, and CNN’s Manu Raju is on the case.
A witness told me they saw GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert throw a mask back at a floor staffer when she was offered one while trying to walk onto the floor maskless. Members can now be fined in the House when maskless
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 28, 2021
This could be a new low of impotent reporting -- using an anonymous source to tattle on a member of Congress. Of course what you will not see is anyone levelling a critical voice towards Pelosi herself. She issued the new mandate from the podium today, without a facial covering, and later in the day when she was insulting Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, calling him a “moron” over his mask position she did so while not wearing a mask.
When asked by @frankthorp about @GOPLeader’s criticism of the mask mandate being reinstated in the House, @SpeakerPelosi responds as she’s getting in her SUV: “He’s such a moron.” pic.twitter.com/2WUwE3A9wR
— Daniella Diaz (@DaniellaMicaela) July 28, 2021
Also escaping the wrath Of Raju was President Joe Biden. He was making an appearance in Allentown this afternoon, and he took time to step out into the crowd, glad-handing people and hugging many women, with not a mask to be found in the throng.
Any comments, Manu, about President Biden this afternoon?
— Brad Slager - In Trouble More Than Pres. Biden (@MartiniShark) July 28, 2021
No masks to be found, no distancing being practiced, and not a single word of condemnation from any major press outlets.
This is a dog and pony show of the highest order. https://t.co/Q4WZ6Bby3j pic.twitter.com/7BmED4MOEX
GILDED REFRAME -- WASHINGTON POST
- Clarifying a nonsensical position in patented Max Boot fashion.
The ever pedantic Max Boot is known for a few things - and few of them are good. The man who has perpetually written the same anti-Donald Trump column for years (for the record, he does NOT like Donald Trump) today decided to try his hand at writing something else. It did not go well.
this tweet has everything pic.twitter.com/2hPEvrw7Zu
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) July 28, 2021
Yes, nothing established your True-Con™ credentials better than lending your support behind an authoritarian government. Max caught plenty of blowback for that, and he took the post down, and then attempted to clarify himself, but not before pointing out what the problem was for doing so -- all these dolts noticed what he had written!
2. I deleted that tweet because it led to too much silly trolling along the lines of "Aha! So progressivism is authoritarian."
— Max Boot (@MaxBoot) July 28, 2021
I had originally written that the Saudis are being more rational than the US, and I probably should have stuck with that. "Progressive" is too vague.
When it takes 5 tweets to explain how you screwed up one tweet, it is best just to walk away. It is rather evident why he mainly rewrites the one column.
07.28.21 (Original)
News Avoidance Syndrome -- CNN
Stopping just short of actually getting it.
The Biden administration is looking adrift on its Covid guidance and this is making things difficult for journalists. As the White House scratches its head, and the CDC spins the Wheel-Of-Guidance on a weekly basis, the media complex struggles to constantly spin so things do not appear as much in upheaval as they are.
You get a sense of this reality from CNN’s Oliver Darcy, who actually touches on the right approach to the new mandates being pushed on Americans, but he pulls up short of actually nailing the point.
-“This is the hospitalization rate in Manhattan, an area CDC is urging universal masking in. CDC officials should really face questions from news orgs as to why they are treating areas like Manhattan the same way they’re treating hot spots in the south with hospitalization spikes.”
While we are in agreement with Darcy’s assessment, you have to wonder about a journalist asking why we do not see all the journalists willing to commit acts of journalism on this topic.
This is the hospitalization rate in Manhattan, an area CDC is urging universal masking in. CDC officials should really face questions from news orgs as to why they are treating areas like Manhattan the same way they’re treating hot spots in the south with hospitalization spikes. pic.twitter.com/u8gAXVU2X0
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) July 27, 2021
Stealth Story Evolution -- NEW YORK TIMES
She spent the maximum character limit of 3 tweets but remained fuzzy in her explanation.
Yesterday we covered how New York Times DOJ reporter Katie Benner who is reporting on the Capitol riot commission came forward to declare all GOP politicians are culpable of the riot and all Republicans are enemies of the state. That she said this at the start of the hearings, before any findings have been established, was only the start of the problems with her thread.
Well Benner seemed to have received enough blowback that she has elected to delete her thread. Her reason for doing so -- they were “unclearly worded tweets”, according to Katie. Just for posterity, here are her rather clear comments impugning tens of millions of Americans.
This is what the New York Times DOJ reporter deleted. https://t.co/yzftaBwVoM pic.twitter.com/MVKZA6SsGj
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) July 28, 2021
Body Checking The Fact Checkers -- CNN
Daniel Dale is reduced to clarifying Biden’s anal references.
It has been one of the few mirthful episodes from this week, the speculation that Joe Biden, when asked an impromptu question by the press seemingly responded with, “My butt’s been wiped.” It has been social media fodder for a couple of days, but CNN’s dedicated fact-checker/Dem-defender Daniel Dale is here to rectify the rectum reference.
Since this is going viral in MAGA circles: no, Biden didn’t talk about his “butt.”
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 27, 2021
A reporter shouted over the ‘copter noise, of immigration reform, “Must it be in reconciliation?” Biden shouted, “What must be what?” He smiled, she repeated, he answered. https://t.co/U9j7t87SkX pic.twitter.com/IU5txmyyp8
The link Dale provides simply replays the poorly recorded interlude, and it proves nothing definitively; it does not provide any facts to Dale’s fact check. Yes, it is a ridiculous item, and yet he still fails to deliver the goods.
Laurel or Yanny? pic.twitter.com/JwChf7yRNC
— Kate Hyde (@KateHydeNY) July 25, 2021
Blue-Anon -- WASHINGTON POST
With the Congressional commission in full swing it is just too tempting to avoid drawing other comparisons to the nefarious attackers of the Capitol. At WaPo Kathleen Parker watched the drama unfolding in the chambers and just could not help herself in going even further with the scorn.
Parker decided that those who are resisting getting vaccinated are exactly the same as those who stormed the Capitol in January. “Both the rioters and the anti-vaxxers believe what is demonstrably wrong to the detriment of others.” She then strained painfully to both make her point, and not sound like a wingnut reactionary.
-To be clear, I’m not suggesting that anti-vaccine people are prone to riot or that they’d even condone what happened on Jan. 6. Anecdotally, however, I can say that everyone I know who refuses to get a coronavirus vaccine also voted for Trump, even if most people I know who voted for Trump raced to get their vaccines. And, though my unvaccinated acquaintances would never raise their voices much less a fist, they might not mind too much that others took to the barricades and took back the election.
So to be clear, they are nothing at all alike, as they think exactly the same and pose the exact same risk to us as a nation.
Opinion: Rioters and anti-vaxxers are cut from the same cloth https://t.co/mMCa6OoJYf
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 28, 2021
Anti-Social Media -- CNN
A couple of weeks back I had a private conflict with Brian Stelter. I wrote about how he was touting the ratings that were seen on the Sunday when they covered Richard Branson making his space flight, making the point that bragging over the audience was undercut by the fact that it meant people showed up when his show was not broadcast. Stelter argued that I did not know how TV worked, because even as they focused the entire hour on the live event it still had the Reliable Sources logo on screen, and the ratings that day would count towards his show’s yearly totals.
The overriding point was that when he is not doing his regular show things improve, a fact proven out that over the past two broadcasts he has not only fallen back to his usual low figures, he has hit new lows. The last episode drew -50% lower than the Branson spaceplane event, and more than -60% in the key demographic, hitting a new annual low in that category.
-Stelter’s program attracted only 100,000 viewers in the key demo of adults aged 25-54 for its smallest audience of the year in the category. The dismal turnout was an eight-percent drop from the previous episode, which was previously the lowest-rated edition of 2021.
Even when factoring in the weekend of the space flight coverage, Reliable Sources has gone 4 consecutive months without ever reaching 1 million viewers.
Pulitzer Prize Nomination -- CNN
The folks at The Apple Network are on top of the big stories. News comes out of Hollywood that celebrity power couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis have a rather curious approach to hygiene -- they are against it.
-Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis appeared on an episode of Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast and the talk turned to bathing. After Shepard told co-host Monica Padman that using soap everyday rids the body of natural oils, Kutcher and Kunis agreed, saying they only wash vitals every day.
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis say they don't believe in bathing their kids or themselves too much.
— CNN (@CNN) July 27, 2021
"If you can see the dirt on them, clean them," Kutcher said. "Otherwise there's no point." https://t.co/YxzjsEuzcC
