"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.
11.21.22
Reporting on the Mirror – CBS NEWS
- When your virtue signal is an extremely low wattage.
For reasons defying anything approaching logic, on Friday evening, CBS News made a bold proclamation: They were quitting Twitter. Not some reporters, or one of the branded programs – the entire news division, as well as affiliates, would all be walking away from the social media platform. This was announced under the guise of some veiled threat and a need for safety or some such nonsense.
CBS News and its owned and operated stations are “pausing” activity on Twitter; blaming “uncertainty” on the platform. pic.twitter.com/Pv1gEQjQJH
— Jim Lokay (@LokayFOX5) November 19, 2022
And then, in a predictable but still impressively-rapid fashion, the news company came out on Sunday morning and completely changed its tune, returning to the social media square, probably upon realizing that the lack of people caring was not worth the loss in commerce the grandstanding move would entail.
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Based on the histrionics behind its decision to "pause" its Twitter activity in the name of caution, we have to assume this return to the platform means that Twitter is a completely safe space for users, in defiance of all of the media hysterics over what Elon has wrought.
TRANSLATION:
— Brad Slager: Polling For Soup (@MartiniShark) November 20, 2022
“Our desire to send a message has been compromised by our loss of potential traffic and revenue” https://t.co/x5FpzaIG0X
News Avoidance Syndrome – VARIOUS OUTLETS
- For those so concerned over "safety," you would think they'd love this news.
Two primary complaints we have been served up from the press over Elon's purchase have been the danger of allowing more open expression on the site, and the dangers of his permissiveness. Yet, for all of the pearl-clutching over dangerous content, it would make sense to praise the man over a news item from the weekend.
Anti-human trafficking activist and sex crime opponent Eliza Bleu has detailed that the new Musk administrators have been working to shut down hashtags and other tools pedophiles have been using on Twitter and assisting in exposing these predators to authorities.
It is apparently an action that the prior administrators were not too keen on enforcing, yet for all the screeching in the media, this is a detail involving Musk and his new acquisition that is going largely unreported.
Rather notable there is not this good news about Twitter and Elon Musk being widely reported.
— Brad Slager: Polling For Soup (@MartiniShark) November 21, 2022
What does it mean when only bad news is valid to be covered?@elizableu https://t.co/FCJcA9Yek0
First Amendment Strike Force – THE NEW YORK TIMES
This is yet another example of the imbalanced and unthinking approach to the Twitter changeover, this time from The Times. They granted an op-ed to Yoel Roth, the former Head of Trust and Safety at Twitter. This was ostensibly done in an effort to allow for a more open discussion of the Twitter trials and tribulations. The Times seems to think Mr. Roth is a valid voice on the matter – considering he was one of the driving forces of silencing accounts on the platform, banning the New York Post over the Hunter Biden laptop story, and kicking the president of the United States off of the platform. The Times is giving way to an editorial that is essentially a primer on censorship and how to control public discourse.
- "In my more than seven years at the company, we exposed government-backed troll farms meddling in elections, introduced tools for contextualizing dangerous misinformation and, yes, banned President Donald Trump from the service. The Cornell professor Tarleton Gillespie called teams like mine the 'custodians of the internet.' The work of online sanitation is unrelenting and contentious."
As a bold proponent of free expression myself, allow me to verge on being contradictory by saying, Oh shut the hell up, Capt. Duct Tape!
Last week, I made the decision to leave my role leading Trust & Safety at Twitter.
— Yoel Roth (@yoyoel) November 18, 2022
Today, I'm sharing a few thoughts about what comes next for the site. https://t.co/QPAQR6zpqU
Pre-Written Field Reports – MSNBC
- Some billionaires are more equal than others.
As Mr. Musk continues to enrage the press, journalists continue to expose their emotional irrationality. Joining the fray of fainting-couch fops was Chris Hayes. He felt the need to lash out at the concept of a billionaire taking control of an important media entity.
Of course, in order for him to cast scorn, he had to be very careful where to land his trolling bait because of all of the other billionaire bogs he was at risk of snagging his line on in the media waters.
Go on about billionaires owning a media entity and using it for influence, Chris... https://t.co/sKmANfXf4Y pic.twitter.com/Bnv50B03A2
— Brad Slager: Polling For Soup (@MartiniShark) November 21, 2022
Anti-Social Media – VARIOUS
- When you flee an unacceptable platform only to create an oppressive one.
There has been a lot of hype around the news that a large number of newsmakers are fleeing Twitter and taking up residence at Mastodon. This is a free market platform where groups form on their own servers and modulate their own content. It has already descended into a digital version of "Lord Of The Flies."
Some journos report being silenced or kicked off, others have been denied entry outright, and those actually on the site have said the behavior of these select members has, at times, been worse than experienced on Twitter.
Adding to the mayhem has been the reality that members on other Mastodon servers have blocked the journalist group because they would rather not deal with members of the press on that platform.
Journalists fleeing Twitter are trying to re-create Twitter on the distributed platform Mastodon. Even the Columbia Journalism Review admits that it's not going well.#mastodon #Twitter https://t.co/XGvVwu1r2L
— Jeff Duntemann (@JeffDuntemann) November 21, 2022
Legalized Press-titution – THE NEW YORK TIMES
Look, it comes as absolutely zero-surprise to find a glowing review in the press for the Obamas doing – anything. So a positively scintillating book review for Michelle Obama's latest self-help entry in The New York Times is more than expected; it is positively rote.
What makes this more strained than usual is not the fractured prose used to rave about the release from Judith Newman (She is on a journey; through her stories, experiences, and thoughts we are finding the light with her. Lucky us.)
What makes this especially cloying is Newman not only gushing in sloppy fashion, but she actually goes so far as to retweet Crown Publishing quoting her own rave review.
"Through her stories, experiences and thoughts, we’re finding the light with her."
— Crown Publishing (@CrownPublishing) November 15, 2022
Check out what @nytimes reviewer @judithn111 has to say about @MichelleObama's #TheLightWeCarry!https://t.co/nr4Cergu02
Both Kinds of Standards – THE NEW YORK TIMES
For perspective, we look at the other end of The Times' tome critiques. Tim Graham of Newsbusters reminds us of another rote book review from The Times, this a scathing assessment of a Trump administration name and, thus, an automatic pan. Dwight Garner reviewed Jared Kushner's memoir of his time during the Trump term, and as expected, it is little more than a screed of petty scorn.
One passage, in particular, was a standout piece of strained exaggeration.
- "This book is like a tour of a once majestic 18th-century wooden house, now burned to its foundations, that focuses solely on, and rejoices in, what's left amid the ashes: the two singed bathtubs, the gravel driveway and the mailbox. Kushner's fealty to Trump remains absolute. Reading this book reminded me of watching a cat lick a dog's eye goo."
Based on Garner's context, a cat licking the effluvium of a canine's eyelids sluicing down its maw is something Garner sat back and beheld in person. I'll thank him for not inviting me to any holiday gatherings at the Garner compound.
