"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.
03.01.22
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – THE NEW YORK TIMES
- Nikole Hannah-Jones is apparently on a quest to corrupt all scholastic subjects.
As the crafter of The 1619 Project, Jones attempted to completely reshape and retell American history. Her attempt at a new framing of the forming of our nation ran into a snag in the form of actual, legitimate historians scorching her over numerous inaccuracies.
Not content with that bastardization, Jones is seemingly on a quest to alter another classroom topic. She has now come out to declare that our planet does not, in fact, possess seven continents.
What if I told you Europe is not a continent by defintion, but a geopolitical fiction to separate it from Asia and so the alarm about a European, or civilized, or First World nation being invaded is a dog whistle to tell us we should care because they are like us.
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) February 27, 2022
Pre-Written Field Reports – WASHINGTON POST
- Jenny may have beat her personal best time at personal discreditation.
It is something of a parlor game to see a Jennifer Rubin comment and dredge back to find the previous comment where she contradicts that position. For this to play out over the span of a day feels like a new mark. First, Jenn makes a completely daft prediction regarding president Biden's new Supreme Court nomination.
Looking forward to how Rs will intentionally mispronounce Brown Jackson’s first name
— Jennifer 'I stand with Ukraine' Rubin ???????? (@JRubinBlogger) February 25, 2022
Then Ms. Rubin's prediction came true…sort of. We got someone screwing up the name, but they were someone decidedly not Republican and someone who should be extremely acquainted not only with the woman chosen but the spelling of the name.
There is a lot of upsetting and challenging news in the world right now, but today there is also huge news to celebrate. We can't wait to see you on the Supreme Court--Judge Kentaji Brown Jackson https://t.co/evASdnaEq0
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) February 25, 2022
Then it was discovered to get even better. Another member of the White House butchered Brown's name, and it was barely one hour after Rubin said the GOP would be taking up this typo cause.
Happy Kentanji Brown Jackson Day! pic.twitter.com/afgNPViuTi
— Natalie Montelongo (@natimontelongo) February 25, 2022
Low Octane Gas Lighting – Canadian Broadcast Company
It is funny how a news event can be roundly despised by the media, and yet after said event concludes, we get to see just how much these same press mavens cannot let go of the storyline. Call it, The Trump Echo Effect.
This time, it is the despised Canadian trucker revolt that is unable to be relinquished by the press. After weeks of decrying the resistors and backing the state oppressors, after it has been disbanded, the CBC strives mightily to find a way to continue with their outrage and their preferred narrative.
- "Post-traumatic stress from weeks of honking is a temporary 'mild trauma,' psychologist says. The trucks have since been removed, with police pushing the majority of protesters outside of the downtown core over the Family Day long weekend. Even still, some downtown residents say they're haunted by 'phantom honking' — what sounds like blaring truck horns, but no actual sounds are there."
The trucks have left Ottawa, but 'phantom honking' lingers for many downtown https://t.co/WfRsNN6krZ #ottnews #ottawa pic.twitter.com/6nroNQcnps
— CBC Ottawa (@CBCOttawa) February 26, 2022
Pulitzer Prize Nomination – NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO
- "Even after weeks of bracing for an attack amid speculation, global tensions and diplomatic attempts to stave off invasion — the reality of conflict is always a shock to the system."
This is how the folks at National Public Radio addressed the onset of the Russian invasion. One point of note here; they were not describing the horrors being met by Ukrainian citizens. This introduction was for those poor folks who are here, watching it on television.
As we progress from the era of college universities providing safe zones and offering coloring books to their adult students, those bubble-wrap coeds are now matriculating into society, so their need to be coddled continues. On the case here is NPR, providing tips for how people can grapple with the deep anxiety produced from a severe activity – watching the news.
The solution for this paralyzing condition? One is to…breathe. Another is to eat some food. You can also move around. Life-saving tips for those who…did not think enough to breathe.
?? Thread: Russia’s attack on Ukraine means there’s a stressful news cycle ahead of us. The reality of conflict is always a shock to the system.
— NPR (@NPR) February 25, 2022
Here are 5 ways to cope.https://t.co/L3NR6BONZt
Reporting on the Mirror – WASHINGTON POST
Jennifer Griffin might be among the most impressive journalists at Fox News. During the Afghanistan evacuation fiasco, she was an invaluable source of what was taking place, as well as detailing what the state officials were saying and doing in response. Now with the Ukraine invasion, she is again rising to the fore, and when she has details that might conflict with other Fox hosts, the Washington Post is there to pounce.
- "Much like her peers at other news outfits, the national security correspondent has reported live from the Pentagon. But, Griffin has also used her reporting appearances on Fox News programs to push back on some of the assertions made by her colleagues, particularly those who host opinion programs."
This is needed work, no argument. But there is a distinction that these are opinion hosts, so it is not as if she has been correcting false news reports; this is more like she is putting finer points on narratives and giving detailed accounts on broad-stroke assertions. What is not said is the usual claims that Fox News has no journalists of Griffin's skill, as is the praise often seen of other networks eventually getting the story correct.
Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin keeps fact-checking her colleagues on Ukraine https://t.co/f4OG1eiCYD
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 26, 2022
Anti-Social Media – NEWSWEEK
- There's a small problem when your support of the First Amendment is a part-time thing.
Charlie Kirk is on a rather unusual crusade. While I am not one to take sides with Satanists by practice, I am also not overly invested in what they are up to these days – much like the exaggerated claims of Nazis in this country. But Kirk is out to (forgive me here) demonize this group of people and, in so doing, manages to undermine himself entirely.
In Newsweek, Charlie Kirk has a column where he begins in sober fashion:
- "The First Amendment has long been a bedrock principle of my worldview. I support free speech, and free religious exercise, both in spirit and in the letter of the law. I've spent years railing against leftist censorship in all areas of society, especially on college campuses and social media."
Okay, great stuff, yet when he positions the introduction of this group in the headliner with a question mark, you just feel there is a monumental "EXCEPT" to arrive. And brother, does it arrive.
- "Affirming that limits to free expression are a matter of preventing 'substantive evils.' And there should be at least one 'substantive evil' Americans can all agree to prevent: worshiping Satan. Yes, it's an extreme example, but it's also illustrative in helping to establish a rationale for conservatives as we navigate difficult debates over speech."
The normal course of action on speech entails a starting point, like Sarah Palin's recent New York Times lawsuit, where something said/printed/broadcast is deemed beyond the scope of the 1A. Here, Kirk has not shown anything Satanists have specifically said; he just does not like them, so they need to shut up. He sounds just like the cancel-culture hordes he claims he is not a part of but emulates all the same.
