"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature with coverage of 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.
04.01.22
Legalized Press-titution – MSNBC
Though it has been relatively known to be inevitable, word broke today from Sarah Fischer of Axios that Jen Psaki will be vacating her perch as White House Press Secretary and taking up residence with MSNBC.
SCOOP: Jen Psaki planning to leave White House this spring for MSNBC gig https://t.co/UW5Kk5Ee9r
— Axios (@axios) April 1, 2022
The reaction to this from the media mavens has been – reserved. At CNN, this news was delivered without so much as a shrug. Recall that when Kayleigh McEnany signed on to Fox News, Mr. Stelter saw the nefarious aspects of such a move.
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One way to think about Fox News in 2021 is as the Trump White House in exile. Today Kayleigh McEnany joined as a contributor to the network pic.twitter.com/ngrbbhgS1m
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 2, 2021
Meanwhile, Justin Baragona referred to this as a "nice scoop." Back when McEnany signed, it was fashionable to invoke Nazi references.
Fox News Insiders Rage Against Hiring ‘Mini Goebbels’ Kayleigh McEnany https://t.co/OM5UuZ09ug
— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) March 2, 2021
Lost in the lack of furor is that McEnany took the job following her stint at the White House. There is no such concern over Psaki becoming the second major mouthpiece from the current administration to go to the news network, following Symone Sanders singing a couple of months ago.
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – CBS NEWS
Well, that only took three days to completely unravel. On Tuesday, CBS reported a BREAKING news item that Donald Trump was finally – FINALLY – caught by the January 6 Committee! The investigators discovered over seven hours of missing phone records from the day of the Capitol riot, and he was suspected of using a burner phone to…we had to suspect, to evade the investigators who would look into things over a year later. He was playing the long game, apparently.
Except, this exclusive has already been blasted into confetti. It turns out that the leak reveals that investigators were looking over a limited portion of the phone logs, as it seems the staff had moved to another office in the White House and were actually using a different set of phones. Well, okay then, nothing to see any further – move along…
CNN Breaking: The 6 pages of WH switchboard logs for 1/6 are complete based on an official review of White House records, according to a source familiar with the matter. There are no missing pages & the 7 hour gap is likely explained by use of WH landlines & cell phones link????
— Jamie Gangel (@jamiegangel) April 1, 2022
Body Checking the Fact Checkers – ASSOCIATED PRESS
In his speech about convincing Americans to move to renewable energy, the president delivered a whopper by promising the saving for each person would be $500 a month. But the Associated Press was on the case – to offer their cleanup services and to definitely not say Biden had lied. No, see, it was a case that "Joe Biden vastly overpromised," and there was no chance of a lie anyway, as he merely "misspoke."
President Joe Biden has told Americans they could save $500 a month by transitioning to renewable energy. An AP Fact Check shows he misspoke. The White House actually claims that using green energy might save people $500 a year, not per month.https://t.co/WB6tckyj1A
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 31, 2022
Anti-Social Media – AXIOS
It was 2019 when the NBA had its broadcast agreement with China cutoff amid inner controversies. Then, after last month seeing the very outspoken anti-China player Enes Kanter Freedom being released, suddenly the relationship has been repaired.
The basketball player Enes Kanter Freedom has condemned human rights abuses in Turkey for years. Now, as he focuses on abuses in China, he claims the NBA is blackballing him. https://t.co/2DlOefXPiA pic.twitter.com/TIewEsBEbL
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 24, 2022
Both Kinds of Standards – WASHINGTON POST
- This is what digital Karma looks like.
During an interview on "Meet the Press," Taylor Lorenz, the newly hired digital reporter for the Washington Post, had a meltdown on camera.
See, the reporter who has tasked herself with identifying, exposing, and shaming people publicly for their perceived offenses online has been enduring people identifying her, exposing her, and shaming her on social media over perceived offenses, and she is suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result.
NEW: Taylor Lorenz says she has "severe PTSD" from being a journalist and breaks down in MSNBC interview pic.twitter.com/G9FymoSdH8
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) April 1, 2022
Pulitzer Prize Nomination – USA TODAY SPORTS
- Based on context clues, this was…historic?
Not being a basketball fan, I have to plead ignorance, but it appears that the head coach of Villanova has made a jarring sartorial decision coming into the Final Four.
Breaking: Jay Wright is not wearing a suit for the Final Four. He didn’t even pack one
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) April 1, 2022
