"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.
05.25.22
Prose & Contradiction – CNN
- Chris needs to vet his references a little better.
In response to the Texas shooting yesterday, Chris Cillizza provided a clip of wisdom on the matter from a vaunted mind with unimpeachable expert credentials – an NBA basketball coach.
Cillizza was deeply impressed by what Steve Kerr had to say on this matter, even sending out a second tweet later in the day.
Recommended
Everyone should watch this https://t.co/RfNJkJfbcz
— Chris Cillizza (@ChrisCillizza) May 25, 2022
Chris seems impressed while unaware that this is the same Steve Kerr who worked to have police removed from guarding public schools.
Steve Kerr, who last night demanded new gun laws to keep kids safe, protested to demand the removal of all armed police from schools two years go. https://t.co/Tx8heuvIG9
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) May 25, 2022
Both Kinds of Standards – MSNBC
- They are not at all similar, so I will dismiss them as being the same thing.
This afternoon, Beto O'Rourke beclowned himself by crashing the press conference about the Texas school shooting, using the news event as a chance to grandstand for his campaign, blaming the shooting on Governor Abbott – his campaign opponent – leading to swoons in the press.
Chuck Todd managed to modulate his glee a bit, and when he was on the verge of maybe condemning Beto's actions, he managed to find his escape hatch. He could not criticize Beto's actions since Abbott sent migrants to D.C. recently, because campaigning on the backs of dead school children is equal to sending illegals to Biden's doorstep.
Chuck Todd: "I’m not going to sit here and weigh in on who's...making a mistake here by leaning in to political theater. Governor Abbott is the person that sent migrants to Washington D.C. right outside my office here ... people need to remember the glass house that they live in. pic.twitter.com/imCrm5IzDH
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) May 25, 2022
Low Octane Gas Lighting – MEDIA MATTERS
- Delivering a half-truth means they are still technically accurate, correct?!
One of the stunted minds at Media Matters for America decided that the shooting tragedy would be a perfect time to score political points at their usual frothing-at-the-mouth target, Fox News. Matt Gertz decided that it was a prime moment to "prove" Fox references the mental health of a shooter when they want to deflect away from the news. And Matt even has a cool chart!
When Fox News talks about "mental health," it's usually because someone just used a gun to kill a lot of people and the hosts want to change the subject from gun safety policies. pic.twitter.com/8Oa4UPzEJz
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) May 25, 2022
Funny Matt would say this, given there is a shooter in Texas who was racially targeting businesses, but since he was a black man and does not fit the narrative, he has been dismissed as having mental issues.
Less funny is the fact that there is a chart just like Matt's that shows when CNN uses the same "mental health" phrase, and it trends nearly identical to the one Gertz references.
Nearly identical to CNN. Clown. pic.twitter.com/7OHdDHcJHy
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) May 25, 2022
Pre-Written Field Reports – NETFLIX
- Elevating jokes to the level of domestic terrorism.
It was midnight Tuesday when Netflix released the latest Ricky Gervais standup special, and while a backlash from the LGBTQ+ crowd was expected, it took GLAAD only a couple of hours to issue a letter of stern condemnation.
It was clear this was a letter prepared even before the broadcast, as it complained about things in a comedy routine being inaccurate and correcting things that Gervais had actually said, all while ignoring his direct message that this kind of hysteria is rootless and unfounded.
Best of all was how GLAAD described the jokes from Gervais' routine.
- "It's full of graphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants masquerading as jokes. The LGBTQ community and our allies have made it very clear that so-called comedians who spew hate in place of humor, and the media companies who give them a platform, will be held accountable. Netflix has a policy that content 'designed to incite hate or violence' is not allowed on their platform, but we all know that anti-LGBTQ content does exactly that."
As far as accountability goes, there are doubts that Netflix is too worried. They have already told Gervais the streamer will run his next standup special.
Body Checking the Fact Checkers – POLITIFACT
Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock is running against Gary Black. Recently the challenger referenced some campaign ads Warnock ran in his initial campaign for the Senate, where he was portrayed with a beagle, loving on him and even giving him a walk. Black praised the spots, stating how effective they had been, but he noted a detail behind the commercials.
- "Raphael Warnock can't even tell the truth about that. That wasn't his dog. He didn't even own that dog."
This was a fact that PolitiFact could not dispute, forced to grade the claim made by the challenger as True. But in the face of this rare occasion of finding a Republican to be accurate, the outlet still had to lend their share of corrective shading on behalf of the Democrat.
- "Black was correct that the dog wasn't Warnock's. (In Warnock's defense, we never found an instance when he claimed it was.)"
News Avoidance Syndrome – NBC 4 LOS ANGELES
- At this point, they are going with it being a lone-wolf vehicle.
With shades of the Waukesha Wisconsin Christmas parade, a recent episode of students in California being run down appears, based on coverage from a local station, to be the work of a car acting on its own in an act of violence.
Incendiary Devices Found In Car That Drove Onto Sidewalk at Elementary School, Injuring Three Children https://t.co/i0BrK7N5Td
— NBC Los Angeles (@NBCLA) May 23, 2022
