"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.
03.04.22
Low Octane Gas Lighting – PLAYBOY
- Telling half the story is apparently better than delivering the facts.
Last night, the media sphere was abuzz with news the DOJ had arrested John Hanick, a television producer, with violations against the sanctions imposed against Russia. Playboy Magazine's Washington correspondent Brian Karem, a man never afraid to resort to hysterics and half-truths in order to slander anyone on the Right, had this hot take interpretation.
BREAKING - via Reuters: A former Fox News producer, John Hanick, was just charged by prosecutors for violating US sanctions against Russia.
— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) March 3, 2022
Frankly, I'm not surprised.
Wow, sure sounds like Fox had people working with the Russians for the war effort! Except for…quite a few discrepancies.
For starters, Hanick was not just charged, he had actually been arrested in London before the Ukraine invasion. The charges stem from his work as a Moscow-based TV producer from at least five years back. As for his working for Fox? He has not been with the network for over a decade, and even Reuters refers to Hanick as working as a Russian TV producer. Apart from those errors, Karem was at least in the same area code of accuracy in his report.
U.S. charges Russian oligarch's TV producer with violating Crimea-related sanctions https://t.co/oNXIZd3GBI pic.twitter.com/f99WVxPtsk
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 4, 2022
Body Checking the Fact Checkers – CNN
- Defending Kamala's indefensible vaccine opposition.
Taking a break from not extensively fact-checking the SOTU from Tuesday, Daniel Dale busied himself with defending Kamala Harris from comments she made in 2020 because that is vastly more important. When Senator Marsha Blackburn said that Biden and Harris weaponized Covid and refused to take the vaccine – in reference to their comments while on the campaign trail – Daniel Dale saw fit to pounce on the senator's comment.
Triple whammy! Trump obviously didn’t develop vaccines (though even Biden credited Warp Speed for helping the process); Biden and Harris got vaccinated on cam; they never said they wouldn’t. They said they wouldn’t trust Trump’s own vaccine claims and would need to hear experts. https://t.co/vidYut2uLl
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 3, 2022
The only problem is – we have Harris on record. As Trump was pushing to bring the vaccines to market, Harris was deeply critical of his claims. Dale wants to couch her words by saying she would listen to experts, except those experts said a vaccine would not arrive until last summer at the earliest. In a vice presidential debate, Harris was asked directly if she would take one before or just after the election.
"If the public health professionals, if Dr. Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, I'll be the first in line to take it. Absolutely. But if Donald Trump tells us that we should take it. I'm not taking it."
Fauci was among many who said the vaccines would not be ready for 12-18 months.
A lot of massaging here.
— Brad Slager - Digging into the CPAC 12-pack (@MartiniShark) March 4, 2022
Kamala DID say that she would not even trust experts, blaming Trump for rushing a vaccine and saying experts were compromised.
NBC News even said: “Health experts have said Trump’s desired timeline is incredibly unrealistic.”https://t.co/ZcJifiX54r https://t.co/TGQHmBXSDM pic.twitter.com/nFbS9kpPny
Reporting on the Mirror – MSNBC
MSNBC reporter Richelle Carey stated that when she attempted to vote in the Texas primary, she was denied from doing so. She chalked this up to the new voter integrity law limiting her voting rights. Of course, for these melodramatics to take place, we need to bypass that she had been working outside the country for six months and had failed to reregister with the elections office, as had been the requirement all along.
.@ZerlinaMaxwell: Texas journalist Richelle Carey wasn’t allowed to cast a ballot in Tuesday’s primary election, the first since a restrictive voting law was put into place. https://t.co/MEIr6lAibs
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 4, 2022
First Amendment Strike Force – RUSSIA TODAY
- A Putin mouthpiece is muted.
Following moves by the likes of Direct TV and YouTube to remove the channel from availability, the network Russia Today announced it would be shuttering, closing all four U.S. bureaus, and laying off their employees.
RT America permanently shuts down US operations, lays off staff as Russia-Ukraine crisis escalates https://t.co/arW4EQgEZL
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 3, 2022
Body Checking the Fact- Checkers – BBC NEWS
- They will nail you on the shipping costs.
There was a need, supposedly, to dedicate time to clarify for the public that there is a false online auction listing.
Someone jokingly mocked up an eBay auction page suggesting a Russian tank captured by Ukrainians was offered for bidding. Try to imagine the money these dedicated truth detectors saved an unsuspecting buyer.
Ukrainians are not selling used Russian tanks on eBay. No-one's selling tanks on eBay. It's a joke.
— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) March 2, 2022
H/T @debunker pic.twitter.com/2gkNKOD4g6
Pulitzer Prize Nomination – EATER - MONTREAL
There have been a number of questionable business moves in reaction to the Russian invasion, but here comes maybe the most questionable. A restaurant in Quebec is removing "Poutine" from its menu. It is not suspending serving the dish, the management is making a nomenclature adjustment.
- "Le Roy Jucep posted on Facebook that it would be temporarily referring to the dish as 'la frite fromage sauce' (which translates to 'the fry cheese gravy') in an 'expression of dismay' toward the situation in the Ukraine. The Quebec specialty of French fries, gravy, and cheese curds bears no relation to Russia or its dictator, other than the fact that in French, Vladimir Putin's last name is spelled 'Poutine.'"
The world, she is a safer place today. Merci, you Quebecois warriors.
Quebec bars reopen today, a Drummondville restaurant revises its branding because Putin’s last name is spelled “poutine” in French, and more local restaurant newshttps://t.co/QWK4rtQUM2
— Eater Montreal (@EaterMontreal) February 28, 2022
