"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.
06.07.22
Anti-Social Media – WASHINGTON POST
The ongoing fiascos at the Washington Post continue to unfurl, and frankly, we are here for it. The Taylor Lorenz crash-landed piece continues to reverberate, and in more surprisingly inept news, the ongoing drama surrounding the Dave Weigel retweet continues to spiral.
Late yesterday, the news came out that Weigel, despite deleting and apologizing quickly for his intemperate sharing of a tasteless gag, has now been suspended by the paper. This means that reporters routinely delivering flawed and/or misleading content or one trashing staffers and management on a public forum are not the ones singled out for punishment.
Recommended
Priorities.
The reporter who butchered her report requiring THREE corrections for her lies had no reprisal.
— Lie-Able Sources (@LieAbleSources) June 7, 2022
The staffer who is airing the corporate dirty laundry on social media is not dealt with.
The guy who retweeted a joke however, he’s paying the REAL price.
What - a - clown - show… https://t.co/O18vBghQXf
Reporting on the Mirror – MEDIA MATTERS FOR AMERICA
- The media hit squad might be facing a Lincoln Project-level of scandal.
A bit of a media grenade was dropped yesterday as an outgoing editor of Media Matters posted a thread concerning an issue of sexual harassment taking place at the infamous outlet.
Recently departed Senior Editor Tim Johnson put out his message on Twitter, and it appears to be a rather scathing indictment, as he does not shy away from accusing management of fostering a sexual predator they knew of in their offices.
After about 10 years, I no longer work at Media Matters (@mmfa) — below is a thread with a few recollections:
— Tim Johnson (@timberwjohnson) June 6, 2022
Making this all the more revealing is that MMFA just weeks ago weighed in on this particular topic regarding Elon Musk. Note how many in the press were willing to dredge up the story of his alleged assault on a stewardess and encourage her to come forward and violate the NDA she signed. How many of those will now do the same type of coverage on this story?
One that we know will not match the coverage – MMFA.
Um, it was just weeks ago that @MMFA was all over the Elon Musk accusation with a flight attendant and the supposed NDA.
— Brad Slager ???????? Lifetime Subscriber to CNN+ (@MartiniShark) June 7, 2022
Now today they are perfectly at ease enforcing their own version over sexual harassment. https://t.co/Id05scsY2x https://t.co/bsFBtYieZx
Matching Media Memorandum – VARIOUS OUTLETS
- The press agrees – support for Pride Month must be required.
One of the biggest social grievances taking place right now is that a handful of baseball players did not wear appropriate team insignia representing the rainbow colors in support of Pride Month. On the Tampa Bay Rays, five players elected not to wear the sunburst patch on their shoulder that was reconfigured with the colors, opting instead to go with the standard team logo on their jersey.
This has been elevated into a social crime. CNN covered the decision. The New York Times went further, quoting one author who declared that wearing the standard team patches was a way to "use their interpretation of religion to justify discrimination against people for the way they were born."
At Outsports, a division of SB Nation, the move to not wear a rainbow was cited as homophobia by writer Ken Schultz. This, despite the designated spokesman Jason Adam saying he was not being exclusionary in any fashion. It was simply a reflection of the faith of the players who opted out. As Adam says, "ultimately we all said what we want is them to know that all are welcome and loved here," it is difficult to see where homophobia is at play.
The Tampa Bay Rays wanted to create an inclusive environment for Pride Night.
— Outsports (@outsports) June 7, 2022
But their efforts were overshadowed by the homophobia of Jason Adams and other players who refused to wear a Pride rainbow https://t.co/3xds8lEYwr
Pre-Written Field Reports – CNN
- Is it possible to feel elated while outraged at the same time?!
For days, ever since the announcement that the January 6 Commission hearing will take place in prime time, Brian Stelter has been eagerly awaiting the announcement on whether Fox News would preempt their nightly lineup to run the hearings live. Well, he finally got his answer, and it is unmistakable the level of condemnation he delivers while also sounding giddy at being able to make such an announcement.
Fox News makes it official: It will NOT show Thursday's 1/6 hearing like all the other major networks. Tucker Carlson's show will air as usual. Carlson promotes conspiracy theories about the riot, calls the committee "illegitimate," and ridicules the committee members.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 6, 2022
What is amusing is that if Fox viewers wanted to watch the hearing, there is no shortage of outlets running the dog and pony show trial; the networks and a number of cable news outlets will be running the hearings live. As will…Fox Business Channel. Sooooo, Fox IS, in fact, covering it; they are just keeping their nighttime lineup intact.
What is truly bothering Stelter is that Fox will not be adversely impacting their ratings by covering an event with muted public interest, as was seen during the January 6 anniversary. It was then that CNN and MSNBC ran day-long coverage of that non-memorial, and Fox trounced both in the ratings the entire day.
Here's the language from Fox's press release: "Fox News Channel's primetime programs will cover the hearings as news warrants." At 11pm ET, "Gutfeld" will be preempted, and Shannon Bream "will anchor a two-hour live special," joined by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 7, 2022
DNC PR Firm – JANUARY 6 COMMITTEE
Axios reveals that the behind-the-scenes production that will be the J6C hearings is being produced by former ABC News executive James Goldston, who's serving as a senior advisor. The reason for bringing in a media veteran is to display the hearing in a compelling fashion for audiences.
- "The House's Jan. 6 committee has turned to a renowned former network news executive to hone a mountain of explosive material into a captivating multimedia presentation for a prime-time hearing Thursday. I'm told Goldston is busily producing Thursday's 8 p.m. ET hearing as if it were a blockbuster investigative special. He plans to make it raw enough so that skeptical journalists will find the material fresh, and chew over the disclosures in future coverage."
All of that can be distilled into two words, which the supporters of the committee have been loathe to admit – "Show Trial."
Axios Scoop: Jan. 6 committee's secret adviser is former @abc Executive @jamesgoldston Reporting via @mikeallen https://t.co/Lsci9DLVvg
— Jamie Gangel (@jamiegangel) June 6, 2022
Low Octane Gas Lighting – NEW YORK MAGAZINE
As the city continues to devolve into a dystopia of crime and filth, there is an effort to recall San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin. The Intelligencer arm of NY Mag suggests this is all the work of the dire Republicans – who have not had any influence in the liberal hotspot since the Kennedy administration.
- "From 1912 to 1963, only Republicans governed San Francisco, and they were largely backers of big business who could occasionally draw support from organized labor."
The attempt to lay blame on the party that ran the city in the last century for about 50 years is completely dismissed by the fact that they have not been in any discernable level of power for the even longer period of 60 years. But sure, blame the GOP…
San Francisco, governed by Republicans for most of the 20th century, doesn't rest on a New Deal foundation and increasingly lacks a working-class population to bolster progressive candidates https://t.co/1C2sg4Shto
— Justin Miller (@justinjm1) June 6, 2022
