"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.
01.25.22
Both Kinds of Standards – VARIOUS OUTLETS
Yesterday, Joe Biden was caught on a hot mic calling Peter Doocy of Fox News a "stupid son of a bitch." The press reacted in one of two ways; they assured us Fox would be screeching about this for days and that Biden was not in the wrong because of Donald Trump, of course.
Brian Stelter initially passed it off as a small issue – that is, until it was pointed out how, with Trump, he had been demonstrably critical, so hours later, he came back with a rather tepid rebuke of Biden's outrage.
Recommended
This is from 2018. It's still true. Biden was wrong to call Doocy an SOB. The press is right to hold presidents to high standards. Biden doesn't berate the media like Trump, so the context for today is different, but it's still out of line https://t.co/RYiO4Nyg08
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 25, 2022
And what is revealing is how many have been saying that Fox will be running wall-to-wall coverage on this interlude. Instead, Doocy spent last night making light of the exchange, and then this morning, the way the network addressed it was to say Biden was proper in the way he contacted Doocy and smoothed the waters. That interrupted the narrative.
wow they look furious about this pic.twitter.com/6BEGqtInlx
— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) January 24, 2022
HAHA - A Tale Of 2 Morning Shows.
— Brad Slager - Incontinent On Another Continent (@MartiniShark) January 25, 2022
- On CNN's NEW DAY: ''Fox will spend days shrieking over this episode.''
- On FOX & FRIENDS: ''Peter can handle this just fine, and Biden did the decent thing.'' pic.twitter.com/pIGmZsreDy
News Avoidance Syndrome – VARIOUS OUTLETS
- In defense of Joe Biden, they ignore Joe Biden's words.
Many of those who say Biden may have been justified in his comment do so by criticizing Peter Doocy for his line of questioning. In this effort, they manage to ignore one detail of the presser – Biden basically asked for the question to be asked. Just before Doocy spoke up, the president fielded a query about Ukraine, and he deflected by saying he wanted to keep the subject of the meeting going so it would be reported. The meeting was about the economy and inflation. Joe became surly when he heard Doocy's question about…inflation.
The irony is that Biden had just declined to discuss Russia and Ukraine, after lamenting that reporters don't tend to cover the topic of a meeting (inflation and competition and pricing, in this case) if he talks about other things. https://t.co/4FWOVkSeQt
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) January 24, 2022
Legalized Press-titution – MSNBC
Man, the way they have raced up to protect Joe, you would think they were witnessing elder abuse on the street. The network was quick to issue an editorial that explains not only was Joe right to swear at Doocy, but the Fox reporter essentially had it coming for asking a bad question.
Then nighttime personality Chris Hayes joined in by merely sending out a pithy tweet in response to the news of Biden's comment.
literal lol https://t.co/CYcusfSeNK
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) January 24, 2022
That itself is not so bad, but Hayes too has a history of lambasting the prior president, curiously over the very same phrase. When Frank Luntz brought up Hayes scorching Trump over this same quote, Chris raised the deflection shield of context, thinking this explained it away.
In this case he was calling *one* person a son of a bitch! Lol.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) January 25, 2022
Except, this was not a lone example. There was another instance, this time involving Trump saying it to a lone individual. Hayes was nearly inconsolable when he saw this occur, it seems.
Literal crying into your sweater. https://t.co/0t3OTvgcKQ pic.twitter.com/9UELokf67s
— Brad Slager - Incontinent On Another Continent (@MartiniShark) January 25, 2022
Matching Media Memorandum – VARIOUS OUTLETS
- Curious how so many use the same description for Joe's outburst.
I don't want to recklessly suggest that the White House sent out a rapid response on the Biden hot mic moment yesterday that the press eagerly repeated for their benefit – so I will show you instead.
In the above editorial, MSNBC says Biden "deadpanned" his response to Doocy. Interesting, as "Talking Points Memo" used that very same expression. As did Brian Stelter and his co-workers at CNN, DJ Judd and Kaitlan Collins. Hey, as long as everyone is on the same page now, the narrative that this was not a contradiction of the reaction to the previous president will settle into place.
"What a stupid son of a bitch," President Biden says audibly after a reporter asked about inflation being a political liability. “It’s a great asset. 'More inflation,'" Biden deadpanned.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 24, 2022
Reporting on the Mirror – CNN
I'm issuing some praise of Oliver Darcy. (I know, and it feels weird, too.) He comes out in the "Reliable Sources" newsletter today with some interesting claims that the recently departed Brian Williams was possibly offered the job as host of the CBS Nightly News. The curiosity is, of course, what this means for the current person in the chair, Nora O'Donnell. Oliver says he has three sources on this.
- "One such proposal floated to him, according to three people familiar with the matter, was to anchor the 'CBS Evening News.' According to the sources I spoke with, CBS News president and co-head Neeraj Khemlani recently tried to recruit Williams for the network's flagship evening news program. Two of the sources I spoke with said that Khemlani, who assumed his role less than a year ago and has been working to poach talent, tried at least twice. But it was to no avail."
This actually fits in with an LA Times piece about CBS News expanding their streaming vertical and giving O'Donnell her own program. This also fits in with a story from months earlier by the New York Post, saying that O'Donnell's days were numbered and her contract may not get renewed. This is far better content from Darcy than his usual mewling over the mean kids' table that is Fox News.
Both Kinds of Standards – MSNBC
- Does this mean we are no longer going to splay on the fainting couch over what people say?!
It seems so long ago when the media used to lose their nut anytime a conservative or Republican would say anything that could be claimed to be inciting violence. Okay, it was about one year ago, and the arrival of a Democratic president changed those rules.
As proof that, at MSNBC, Tiffany Cross was speaking with Democratic State Congresswoman from Texas, Jasmine Crockett. The ladies were discussing the playing field in the elections coming up, and I'll be darned if they did not use language that once had been considered "Violent Rhetoric."
- "CROSS: What's your message to the people that you're running to represent? And what's your message to our viewers today?
CROCKETT: We can't let up. If we say we've been defeated, then they have won. This is a war. This isn't a battle, and we absolutely will win this war.
CROSS: It is indeed a war. And I have to say, they have won some battles, Jasmine, but we have to keep our eye on the war. And everybody needs to pick up a weapon and get involved because this is for the safety and lasting of the country."
Well, it is good to know that the temerity that we endured is over, and people are free to speak in this fashion metaphorically. You know, until a Republican is found using this very same type of dangerous language…
Gilded Reframe – NBC SPORTS
After the Tokyo Olympics, NBC had to provide advertisers with make-good advertising compensations when the Games came in with the lowest ratings for broadcast. After missing guaranteed audience numbers, the network had to provide additional advertising space in other broadcasts to make up the difference.
With this in mind, the Winter Gamers, debuting in a couple of weeks, sees the network scaling down the assured advertiser thresholds.
- "Ad agencies are being told to expect a six rating at Beijing — half what the audience guarantees were for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, according to one media agency executive. Two others confirmed that rating figure was in the ballpark."
"Ad agencies are being told to expect a six rating at Beijing — half what the audience guarantees were for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, according to one media agency executive." https://t.co/JfR6CytbKl https://t.co/FM2W3G4NBm
— Jack Genovese (@JackGen0vese) January 24, 2022
