"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.
08.04.22
Reporting on the Mirror – CNN
- After years of abuse, it might take more than begging.
Think of the past years when CNN has been outwardly hostile toward Republicans, condemning the politicians and their policies. Jake Tapper even boldly declared he would not have anyone on the air from the GOP he deemed to be election deniers. Now, the new Warner-Discovery management is in place, and they are willing to have more Republicans on the air. Wait, not willing – they are begging to have them come back on.
New CEO of the network Chris Licht was in D.C. recently, and he was desperate enough to cloister himself in the Capitol in order to get Republicans to agree to return to his airwaves.
- "The network boss camped out in mid-July in a room on the first floor of the Senate side of the Capitol, S-120, where he asked GOP lawmakers to come talk with him privately. That arrangement avoided alerting the reporters who stalk the halls of the Capitol, sources said, and accommodated Republican lawmakers who preferred not to be seen hobnobbing with him."
CNN's new CEO is trying to win back an audience neglected by the network for years — Republican lawmakers.
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) August 1, 2022
Chris Licht has tried to get Republicans to sit down with him privately. His message? "We want to win back your trust."
Via @elianayjohnson https://t.co/8AYwiiRZC0
News Avoidance Syndrome – VARIOUS MEDIA
It is not at all shocking to see the headline in the Hollywood Reporter that essentially repeats the talking points from Governor Gavin Newsom's office. He is desperate to retrieve all of the workers and residents being chased out of state, and so, in an echo of those desperation commercials he ran in Florida and Texas to coax people to move to his hell-state, Gavin is looking to lure film and television productions back to Hollywood.
This has been an ongoing problem for the state, as there has been significant production flight over the past decades. Georgia has built up a significant production economy, and so much work is done in Vancouver that it has been dubbed Hollywood North. Now, Newsom is proposing significant tax breaks to bring work back home. Funny, I do not see any in the media pointing out how this is a blatant contradiction to the Democrat practice of demonizing corporate welfare.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he supports legislation that would provide $1.65 billion in new TV and movie tax credits for film and television creators, hoping to bring Hollywood studios back to California for production. https://t.co/VaOVjnFNMW
— Axios (@axios) August 3, 2022
Anti-Social Media – WASHINGTON POST
It was jarring news yesterday when it was announced that Rep. Jackie Walorski, and two of her staffers, were killed in a head-on collision yesterday. However, decency and respect could only go so far in reporting on her passing in the Washington Post.
So She had it coming??
— Brad Slager - Unique Taco/Lifetime CNN+ Subscriber (@MartiniShark) August 4, 2022
Just your usual level of class, WaPo... https://t.co/gLOMMdTVi3 pic.twitter.com/ST7uTxitp8
After all, she was a Republican, so she would not be afforded the same glowing obituary as when the paper declared a terrorist leader of being an "austere religious scholar."
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – MIAMI HERALD
The Miami Herald is probably the most amusing paper in Florida in that their obsession with Ron DeSantis and the desire to wound the governor at any chance is downright embarrassing at times. In this latest piece, the paper wanted to hit the governor over his school policies with the passing of the Parental Rights in Education law, but it ran into a problem.
The law was only recently enacted, and schools do not open for at least another week; there have been no possible ill-effects to report on, in other words. So what is a paper to do at this time? How about posing a series of loaded rhetorical questions, which carry the implication of very bad things to come – that'll do it!
- "Could a teacher get into trouble for an off-hand comment in response to a student? Will a passage in an assigned book run afoul of Moms for Liberty, the conservative organization fighting for greater control of the educational agenda? What about teachers displaying photos of their same-sex partners? How much instruction about slavery and Jim Crow policies is considered too much and a case of teaching children to hate America?"
Of course, as the governor's Deputy Press Secretary Bryan Griffin noted, if the Herald actually had wanted answers, it could have – you know – reached out and asked them the questions. But nah, those answers would have interrupted the narrative.
Hey @MiamiHerald if your team had just reached out to our office with your fake questions, we could have saved you the trouble. Of course, you'd rather print them unrebutted.
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) August 3, 2022
History will be taught in FL schools. Family photos aren't banned. Just no K-3 gender theory or CRT. https://t.co/ugEGcL5mi5
Legalized Press-titution – WASHINGTON POST
- When Joe and Kammy manage to figure out Zoom meetings, then we'll be impressed.
WaPo's dedicated White House PR rep Ashley Parker has declared that Joe Biden is a much better president when he is confined to the White House under quarantine. She cites the very great two weeks Joe has supposedly enjoyed, listing off accomplishments that had nothing to do with his availability, such as Congress reaching policy deals and a drone strike taking place on the opposite side of the globe.
Work from home, it turns out, has been good for President Biden. My debrief on Biden’s remarkably successful — if short — stretch as president, while confined to the White House because of covid. https://t.co/QMMrInu3OZ
— Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) August 2, 2022
I would rather look at the attempt they made at Joe "attending" a meeting remotely. Look on as he and the vice president work diligently together – to figure out who has their MUTE button on during this confab.
BIDEN: "You're on mute, I can't hear you" pic.twitter.com/xvxe03Q5tD
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 3, 2022
