"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.
02.17.22
Reporting on the Mirror – CNN
- What do you do with content people do not want? Create more, and charge for it!
Following Chris Cillizza's restaurant metaphor, here is another:
Imagine you run an eatery, and you have a potato option with the Special as one of the free side item selections. Very few people order the side dish, and you look in your walk-in fridge and see your stock of potatoes spoiling. Nobody would think the solution would be to double your next order of potatoes, then place them on the menu but now charge full price for the selection.
It is a good thing CNN does not run a restaurant because they are doing this very thing with their media analyst, Brian Stelter. His Sunday program "Reliable Sources" has dwindled in the ratings over the past year, drawing less than half of the Fox News show, "Media Buzz," on at the same hour. So the announcement went out today that Stelter will be given a daily show on the new CNN+ because when no one watches your show for free, charging them is the next logical step.
Brian even underscores his own show by making this selling point in his "Reliable Sources" email:
"Simply put: If you enjoy this newsletter, you'll like this new show."
Soooo…the new show on the subscription premium service will be just like the newsletter people already receive – for no charge. Cagey business move.
Will he be at the bottom of the screen in silhouette, while the FoxNews feed is on screen, screeching complaints over the sound???
— Brad Slager - Aluminum Medalist 12oz Curling Team (@MartiniShark) February 17, 2022
''That's not journalism!''
''They have covered Ted Cruz for 4 minutes 37 seconds!''
''Oh look, ANOTHER My Pillow commercial...'' https://t.co/dOY1HVfwnH
Anti-Social Media – SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
- You say people are upset you are doxxing them with an illegally hacked donors list?!
Yesterday, we covered the Canadian broadcast reporter who bragged about chasing down people who donated to the truckers' protest. Now, we have a U.S. journalist doing the same thing. Brian Schott writes at the Salk Lake Tribune, and he put out a message of shock that he was receiving negative blowback from those he contacted.
In a now-deleted message, he says, "I've been reaching out to people from Utah who appeared on the leaked Canadian trucker donation data. Hoo boy! Some of the replies have been…aggressive to put it mildly."
Yea, shocker. This is the media who clutches the pearls if you dare suggest they are the enemy of the people, going out and behaving exactly like they are the enemy.
'Reporter' Plays the Victim After Freedom Convoy Donors He Contacted Tell Him to Shove It https://t.co/ouHvPLa3ua
— RedState (@RedState) February 17, 2022
Prose & Contradiction – MIAMI HERALD
In one of the few great stories to come out of the Olympics, U.S. speed skater Erin Jackson won the gold medal. It is an achievement made remarkable that she comes from the distinctly non-frigid state of Florida.
At the Miami Herald, they highlighted this great story and underscored how wonderful a tale of racial harmony it was – by spending most of the article claiming Governor Ron DeSantis is a racist.
How to tell your news outlet has an unhealthy focus on political opponents:
— Brad Slager - Aluminum Medalist 12oz Curling Team (@MartiniShark) February 17, 2022
At @MiamiHerald writer @FabiolaSantiago takes an uplifting sports story with a positive social message and uses it to slam @RonDeSantis as racist, while getting the facts wrong.https://t.co/EgaPTIIdZF
Pounce of Prevention – LOUISVILLE COURIER-JOURNAL
It really is problematic for the press when a noted gun control activist is caught in an attempted murder plot using a gun. Quintez Brown was arrested after trying to shoot Louisville mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg, and now that Brown was just released on bail, Greenberg has thoughts on the matter.
The approach taken by the local paper on Greenberg's reaction is a bit callous, considering he was actually in the crosshairs.
He was jailed Monday morning but out by Wednesday evening, drawing a chorus of criticism as well as staunch defenders. https://t.co/cCcgtKZIZs
— Courier Journal (@courierjournal) February 17, 2022
Both Kinds of Standards – WASHINGTON POST
In a piece about Joe Biden's upcoming Supreme Court nomination, The Washington Post duo of writers of Cleve Wootson and Marianna Sotomayor managed to slip in this dastardly dose of racial insensitivity.
Just for posterity, here is the section of a Washington Post piece where they describe Clarence Thomas as thinking like white conservatives.
— Brad Slager - Aluminum Medalist 12oz Curling Team (@MartiniShark) February 17, 2022
QUIZ TIME
In removing this segment, did WaPo describe this racism as-
A) Inartful
B) Less Nuanced
C) Imprecise
D) An Unsubtle Reference pic.twitter.com/4yshaYnKho
Bad enough for them to tag-team on that, but then a correction is issued that hardly rectifies things.
- "CLARIFICATION
A previous version of this story imprecisely referred to Justice Clarence Thomas's opinions as often reflecting the thinking of White conservatives, rather than conservatives broadly. That reference has been removed."
Merely suggesting that it was imprecise – so they struck the word "white," which means they made the piece more precise by removing an item, according to their logic. How this got by editors, and then editors issued this odd correction, is a mystery.
After an outcry, the Washington Post has removed a reference to Justice Clarence Thomas as "the Black justice whose rulings often resemble the thinking of White conservatives." https://t.co/Pmrx2YA8Qo It was a disgraceful but revealing reference...
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) February 17, 2022
