"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature with coverage on 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.
10.07.22
Pre-Writtren Field Reports – MSNBC
Well, at least he didn’t call Kanye “uppity.”
All that really needs to be said about a piece on Kanye West and his recent positions, wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt, and an appearance with Tucker Carlson – it derives from Joy Reid’s blog.
Ja’Han Jones covers the entertainer’s recent exploits and comes to a rather unsurprising conclusion: Kanye is acting racist.
The artist formerly known as Kanye West seems to be seeking out a legacy as a racist hatemonger. Let him have it. (via @thereidout Blog) https://t.co/wbxaVqCXhX
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 7, 2022
1st Amendment Strike Force – CNN
The only thing dumber than this double-secret probation is the reason.
One of the rare conservative voices at CNN is Mary Kathrine Hamm, and it is even more rare considering she has not been on the air in over half a year. The reason for this departure was made clear by Hamm – she has been under suspension. There is a good reason for her only letting us know recently that she was suspended back in January – she just learned about it herself.
- I was never informed of my punishment until it was rescinded recently by new management. No one called me or my representation about it. There was no announcement of a suspension, or notification of in-house disciplinary action, which I would have preferred, even welcomed by comparison to serving a secret sentence.
January, January…what seems significant back then??? Ah, yes – that was still under the Jeff Zucker regime. So he saw fit to have her suspended but never informed her of the move. More enraging – the reason behind this. The network was upset that she had been tweeting with another CNN figure about Jeffery Toobin’s masturbation episode.
She gives a definitive conclusion:
- In case you’re wondering, as I did, how my punishment for tweeting about Toobin compares to Toobin’s suspension for his offense, I can tell you. He was off air for eight months; I was off for seven. One month was the difference between punishment for jacking off at work versus commenting on the inadvisability of jacking off at work.
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) October 6, 2022
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – AXIOS
Axios has come out with an expose of Democrats working with a third-party outfit to generate false local news reports that generate favorable “news” items for Biden and the Democrats. Party operative David Brock is behind the effort and they have created over 50 news sites in local markets appearing as legitimate news outlets. In some cases, they have even produced physical newspapers, with a mixture of legit news stories mixed with their pre-fab agitprop.
New with @thomaswheatley: a mysterious Florida company and DC media outfit run by prominent Dem operatives are churning out stilted news coverage via 50+ supposed local media outlets across 10 midterm battleground states https://t.co/eFGg8gr11q
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) October 7, 2022
DNC PR Firm – VARIOUS OUTLETS
So is anything approaching “concern” ever going to creep into your coverage?
As we covered earlier, President Biden spoke at a fundraiser and gave a pretty unsettling assessment of things on the world stage. That is, if you consider nuclear global annihilation to be an unsettling subject. Biden spoke about Vlad Putin and described that there is a likelihood of the Russian leader resorting to nuclear weapons, and Armageddon becoming a possibility.
Did we mention this was at a Dem fundraiser? Sure, let’s dole out more cash to the guy ushering in our demise!
Well, fret not gang – turns out this was not a big deal after all!
In notably blase fashion NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell details that the administration informed the press that there was no official position in the administration about this possibility.
On Air Force One, @PressSec says there is no new intelligence that shaped the president's use of the term Armageddon discussing Putin and nuclear weapons at a fundraiser last night.
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) October 7, 2022
Ah, so it is just another example of the President saying something serious and his own White House walking back the comments because Joe Biden’s comments do not reflect the official position of…the Joe Biden administration.
It would be a banner day when anyone in the press sees this repeated reality as a story worth covering.
Exactly When Do President Biden’s Unhinged and Unauthorized Comments Become a Problem?! https://t.co/i1r1a3GOp6
— RedState (@RedState) October 7, 2022
Anti-Social Media – NEW YORK TIMES
At the New York Times metro desk reporter John Leland looked at the episode of a woman being assaulted by a vagrant and her dog killed in the attack. Leland, reporting from a city with mounting violence and a society spinning out of control, and he has his concern in a rather curious position.
Leland appears to be among the class of New York Authorities more concerned about social justice than in protecting citizens from violence. Not hard to imagine how the city is devolving in such a rapid clip.
- In a dog-loving, progressive enclave, where pushing law and order can clash with calls for social justice, what’s the right thing to do? How do you protect the public without furthering injustice against this man?
After a sudden confrontation in Prospect Park that left a golden retriever dead, neighbors came together online to support the owner of the dog. But then things took a turn. https://t.co/kLE3jVr9m2
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 7, 2022
