"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.
08.01.22
Reporting on the Mirror – POLITICO
Think back to how often you have read something in the news and thought, "Is this person on some mind-altering crap?!" POLITICO is here to answer your silent rhetorical with a firm confirmation of things.
It turns out there was a new law passed in the D.C. area that lowered the threshold of illegality on certain controlled substances, and a fair amount of reporters are reportedly taking advantage of the new oversight.
- "A lot of people here are availing themselves of D.C.'s unique decriminalization rules. Microdosing mushrooms as a kind of performance-enhancing brain boost — already wildly popular among the California tech set — is now fairly common in Washington, especially in media circles. Recreational use — macrodosing? — isn't all that uncommon either."
Reporters are tripping? So much makes sense now.
The next frontier in drug decriminalization/legalization is psychedelic mushrooms. This week on Playbook Deep Dive I took a trip to Littleton, CO, and talked to Veronica Lightning Horse Perez, co-leader of the campaign to legalize mushrooms there. Listen: https://t.co/SRsHGlhaMK
— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) July 29, 2022
Body Checking the Fact-Checkers – POLITIFACT
It has pretty much become tiresome to witness all the media outlets collectively choosing to alter the definition of what constitutes a recession following the insistence made by White House advisors.
Distinguishing themselves are the ardent authorities of the truth at PolitiFact. This is due not to their effort being particularly original; they trotted out every single talking point obediently. But in selling the concept that a two-quarter decline is not the accurate measure of a recession, the viscounts of verité manage to go so far as contradicting – themselves. Just one presidency earlier, that metric was perfectly acceptable to PolitiFact scolds.
In an effort to shield Joe Biden @Politifact tries to dismiss the previously accepted definition of a “recession”.
— Lie-Able Sources (@LieAbleSources) August 1, 2022
This ‘fact-check’ is in complete contradiction to…Politifact in 2019.https://t.co/wCrGHOmkMb pic.twitter.com/XlWLicoQtj
Legalized Press-titution – AL.com
- "Hey, if these ceremonies have a dress code, then you guys should put up a sign!"
In Alabama, television producer Ivana Shatara joined a film crew at a prison facility, but once on-site, she was told that her clothing was inappropriately revealing and that she would have to change. Shatara borrowed the pants from a rain suit in order to do her job, but later she went public with her experience.
- "'I believe it is more than appropriate,' Shatara stated. 'I have worn this skirt to prior executions without incident.'"
In other news… pic.twitter.com/hoSlZJTCys
— Ivana Hrynkiw Shatara (@IvanaSuzette) July 29, 2022
Presentation Paradox – Thomas Nelson Publishing
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott has an autobiography set to be released in the coming weeks, but a curious entry was discovered as the galleys came out and were sent around. A declarative statement was made that the senator would be running for president, and more curious, he would do so this year.
- "Printed in small font on the copyright page alongside information about how the work should be catalogued in the Library of Congress, it reads: 'Senator Scott is a rising star who sees and understands the importance of bipartisanship to move America forward. This book is a political memoir that includes his core messages as he prepares to make a presidential bid in 2022.'"
Scott has firmly denied running in 2024, and the publisher has come out with the statement that it had been responsible for the errant lines, but it is unclear how the error will be remedied as the book release is set for August 9.
Anti-Social Media – THE SPECTATOR
- This is made only slightly worse considering who was his father-in-law.
Ben Domenech got into a Twitter scrap with a budding politician, and his choice of invective was rather questionable. The feud began when Lucas Kunce, running for a Senate Seat in Missouri, penned an op-ed at Fox News about the recent vote for the funding of medical care for veterans affected by burn pits.
Domenech – a Fox contributor – got heated, and then he uncorked this rather ill-though retort in their dispute.
I don't think we needed to pay you to travel across the world and murder brown people, Lucas. You should probably send that money back. https://t.co/Yln3yAuWRx
— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) July 30, 2022
A bad enough comment, but then factor in that he is married to John McCain's daughter, and this looks even worse.
Body Checking the Fact-Checkers – REUTERS
- You know that joke that has been circulating for some time? It turns out it was, in fact, a joke.
Reuters is working hard to keep up the tradition of fact-checking memes and gags seen being shared on social media rather than focusing attention on matters of civics or those political in nature.
This time the news outlet has determined for our benefit that a video showing President Biden wandering off from a speech by his wife when he hears the jingle from an ice cream truck is not an accurate video clip. They tell us this despite the very obvious humorous edit in a tweet from a known humor account produced last fall. They also delve into the accurate nature of this tweet despite the Twitter-installed warning that it contains Manipulated Video.
A video of U.S. President Joe Biden walking away momentarily during a speech given by U.S. First Lady Jill Biden has been digitally edited to include music played by an ice cream truck https://t.co/c4KravJu6e pic.twitter.com/P1DadplRkW
— Reuters Fact Check (@ReutersFacts) July 31, 2022
