"Riffed from the Headlines" is 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. (For a VIP discount, drop SLAGER in the signup form.)
12.10.21
Anti-Social Media – CNN
- Every news story needs to be compared to January 6, so sayeth "New Day."
Many in the media are upset that Fox News has noted their Christmas tree was targeted in an arson attack, and the network made a big production out of it reinstalling a new tree.
Making perhaps the biggest leap of illogic was Brianna Keilar on the CNN morning show, finding a need to inject another serious event into the mix.
The Christmas tree fire at Fox was a serious incident.
— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) December 9, 2021
Obviously it's incredibly scary to feel your work place is under attack.
Unless your work place is the Capitol.
Then, according to Fox hosts, it's not such a big deal.#RollTheTape pic.twitter.com/8kdsfzxFOn
The point, Brianna, is that the arsonist was arrested and charged with multiple crimes. And…so were those who stormed the Capitol, by the hundreds. So, exactly what are you claiming regarding the two unrelated events that provoked similar legal results?
The funniest is that this hysterical equivalence was actually predicted in mocking fashion, and CNN stormed right into the mockery anyway.
CNN actually did it pic.twitter.com/AfjixP1zSS
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) December 9, 2021
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – REUTERS
Reuters decided it would be time to wade back into the Georgia election law story once again. It was not a wise decision. The outlet positions a number of changes to the law to racism because that is the default conclusion to anything the press disagrees with anymore. This time, Reuters looked into the changes in the makeup of county election boards, and they disagree with the intention of making these boards bipartisan, with the supervisor positions appointed by either the local commissioners or judges – that is, the voters would be represented by the people they have elected to represent them. The horror.
The piece opens with changes made in Spalding County, stating the GOP "purged" three black women who held seats. In truth, two of them resigned, one being replaced by another black female, and the third – the elections supervisor – was found to not even live in the county. She, by the way, is being investigated as a result of all 18 precincts having severe errors and problems in the last election. But…racism, or whatever…
Georgia Republicans purge Black Democrats from county election boards https://t.co/4QYkKpQtk7 pic.twitter.com/qkaXhiG8Z2
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 9, 2021
Matching Media Memo – CNN
- CNN employee has some reliable contacts about what happens at CNN.
Oliver Darcy continues to cover the aftermath of the Chris Cuomo firing, and for some reason, he continues to cite other news outlets about what officials at CNN are saying.
Yesterday, we covered how he cited the Wall Street Journal regarding comments Jeff Zucker made at a town hall – made for CNN employees. Now, Darcy covers the ratings performance of Cuomo's temporary replacement, Michael Smerconish, and in covering whether he will continue in the timeslot for now. Darcy quotes an official at CNN stating he will remain in the chair.
However, Darcy references this not by speaking to CNN people himself – he quotes this from an entertainment publication.
- "Michael Smerconish is faring well in CNN's 9pm time slot. Despite the fact that some Chris Cuomo fans have said they'll steer clear of CNN due to his firing, Smerconish has grown off his lead-in for three nights in a row. On Wednesday he ranked as CNN's #1 show in the 25-54 demographic. Three days is too soon to reach any conclusions, but strength is obviously preferable to weakness. A CNN rep confirmed to TheWrap that he will continue to host next week..."
News Avoidance Syndrome – WASHINGTON POST
Look, we understand the desire to constantly blame everything on Trump. We do not think it is a sane response, but we understand the desire by those who refuse to be vaccinated against Trump Derangement Syndrome. The latest is shown by David Ignatius, who states that if Vladamir Putin manages to invade Ukraine, it would be all Donald Trump's fault and not anything at all to do with the man currently behind the Resolute Desk.
The reason Dave cites is that Trump gave verbal support to Putin years ago, and today he is silent on the matter.
- "We should examine how Putin has broken through the guardrails with Trump's silent acquiescence or outright approval."
Davie will not examine things like Trump never allowing these supposed permissions while he was president, nor Biden speaking to Putin last week and shutting out our press corps from the talks, or the way Biden gave Putin the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that Trump had blockaded. Those have no bearing on the analysis, just some stuff Donald did a decade ago – that's the real blame for today's reality.
Opinion by David Ignatius: Putin barrels toward invading Ukraine, encouraged by Trump https://t.co/vCNNtwrccX
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 10, 2021
Legalized Press-titution – SUBSTACK
- The administration commands press positivity, and Amy jumps on command.
Recall how we all recently had a good laugh at the attempted claim that the press was treating President Biden worse than Trump? Well, the next day, the White House held a conference with newsmakers on how to properly put a positive spin on things for Joe, and Amy Siskind proves she got to sit in on that conference.
Amy lists off a number of items to show how Joe's economy is a roaring success.
- weekly jobless claims at a 52 year low
— Amy Siskind ?????? (@Amy_Siskind) December 9, 2021
- supply chain issues resolving
- gas prices falling
- stock market hitting record highs
And Democrats can’t message that we are consistently the better stewards of the economy?
That's quite the impressive list she gives us, with one tiny detail – every single item she gives is incorrect.
- The November jobs report came in -60% lower than projected.
- The supply chain problem is just as bad, if not worse.
- The gas price "drop" has been a barely noticeable $0.02 dip while well over a dollar higher than a year ago.
- Workers' wages are lagging well behind inflation, but let's cheer businesses seeing stocks rise.
Well done Amy, Ron Klain will have you on the Christmas Card list.
Presentation Paradox – ROLLING STONE
Rolling Stone just continues to have a miserable time of things. Don't feel bad for them. It is completely of their own doing. There was the laughably wrong exposé on hospitals supposedly overrun with Ivermectin poisonings, and the recent explosive report on organizers of the January 6 rallies using burner phones which…their own article stated led to them finding no evidence they were used to organize the attack.
The latest is laughably inept, in that the magazine claims that in Mark Meadows' recent book release, he stated that Trump called for authorities to "bust some heads" in clearing Layfayette Park during the riots there in 2020. Except…no.
Despite having the book in hand, Rolling Stones manages to completely bungle the timeline of what Meadows was describing, and it was completely incorrect. Again. The real fun is watching the reactionary blue-check experts reacting and getting ensnared in their ineptitude.
Deleted this tweet because apparently the @RollingStone article it’s based on is egregiously, embarrassingly wrong. pic.twitter.com/acx8AlcCMZ
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) December 10, 2021
