"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.
01.23.23
Reporting on the Mirror – WASHINGTON POST
Reports are out that Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos is looking to unload his dysfunctional news outlet, The Washington Post. The reason? Well, he needs only to point to the abysmal year the paper had in 2022 to justify putting it on the market; from the embarrassments from Taylor Lorenz to numerous stories in need of corrections, as well as dwindling readership, and culminating in contentious layoffs last month.
But the word on the street is that Bezos is looking to purchase the troubled Washington, D.C., football team from Dan Snyder. It may say everything that Bezos would rather own the most dysfunctional, scandal-plagued and sub-par football franchise and dispatch the paper that has been a source of perpetual shame.
Jeff Bezos will sell Washington Post to buy Commanders, investors says: sources https://t.co/Kq74uPW8TH pic.twitter.com/yLeVVQtOrc
— New York Post (@nypost) January 23, 2023
Low Octane Gas Lighting – CNN
- "Don't call the hordes, or the target, or the burning police vehicles, or the police that were shot a VIOLENT protest!"
With credibility evaporating faster than an abandoned kiddie pool in Death Valley, the press appears content to not only fail at repairing their reputations, they are content with repeating the idiocies that drove them to the basement in respectability polls.
In Atlanta, an Antifa protest welled up targeting The Police Foundation following the shooting of Manuel Teran, in the course of another protest. During this melee, a local news report insisted the protest was – yes, seriously – mostly peaceful…with a fully engulfed police cruiser seen in the camera shot.
Not to be upstaged, on CNN, they brought on a freelance journalist who emphatically informed the crew that, despite the Antifa protest being the result of Teran being killed, he actually shot a police officer. His instigating this entire episode is never mentioned.
CNN’s guest suggests we shouldn’t use the word “violent” to describe the Antifa riots in Atlanta tonight.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 22, 2023
Antifa is currently destroying buildings and setting police cars on fire. pic.twitter.com/2PeCOFqXEk
Body Checking the Fact-Checkers – ASSOCIATED PRESS
The AP looks at Sarah Huckabee Sanders taking the helm of the state of Arkansas and decided to report on the matter. No, they are not hailing the fact she is the first female governor of that state (she is a Republican, you understand, so there is no historic significance after all.) Instead, they look at the fact that as one of her first acts, she has deemed the use of the term “LatinX” to be forbidden in government communications.
The AP describes this as being controversial, as it is supposedly insensitive to the LGBT+ community.
- "One of Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ first acts as Arkansas governor was to ban most state agencies from using the gender-neutral term Latinx, tapping into a debate that’s divided Hispanics along generational lines."
Bear in mind here, “divided” is their description, even as writers Andrew DeMillo and Claire Savage have to admit this will have limited impact, as few in government are currently using the contrived phrase. Then it gets better.
The fact-checkers were fact-checked by Twitter users, who managed to supply numerous polls over the years showing close to no Hispanics support the use of the term.
When Twitter readers are being more accurate than misleading @AP headlines. pic.twitter.com/j05PeQCNkD
— Alberto Miguel Fernandez (@AlbertoMiguelF5) January 23, 2023
Anti-Social (towards) Media – FOX NEWS
- Something, something…"on steroids," right, President Biden?
Just try to imagine the outrage had this taken place in the opposite direction. We would have a week’s worth of think pieces, the president would be giving speeches about the deplorable nature of right-wing rhetoric, and Joy Reid would need an oxygen tank beside her broadcast desk for multiple segments.
Fox News contributor Gianno Caldwell was dining in Miami with friends when an owner of the establishment made him leave as a result of the conversation they were having, regarding the news channel. Telling a POC they need to leave a dining establishment sure has Jim Crow echoes, but since this was in regards to a conservative, there is no social crime to be seen.
I can't believe what just happened. I met up with friends for breakfast at Paradis Books and Bread in North Miami & while we were having discussions about politics we were told by the owner that we were not welcomed there because we aren't politically aligned. Outrageous.
— Gianno Caldwell (@GiannoCaldwell) January 21, 2023
DNC PR Firm – THE NEW YORK TIMES
- Funny that when both political parties act the same, only one manages to be acting politically.
As we are prepping for all of the hyperventilating in the press concerning a congressional battle over the spending debt ceiling, The New York Times comments on the battle, noting that curiously only one party appears to be to blame over this recurring reality.
Here’s a hint: They blame the party that has been accused of “weaponizing the federal government.” The real amusement is The Times saw a need to correct their original tweet on this matter, and the follow-up manages to be just as bad in displaying their bias.
Correction: An earlier tweet misstated the nature of recent debt ceiling showdowns. Both parties are responsible for the debt, but only Republicans are using it as a political tool. We deleted the incorrect tweet.
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 23, 2023
Glossary Over Things – CNN
Our intellectual betters who always tell us to follow the science – yet struggle with basic biology, such as what constitutes a “woman” – are on to the next woke, over-educated idiocy. We are being told that museums are steering clear of the term “mummy.” Apparently, there is some kind of insult associated with this word.
- "Initial findings from visitor research into the Great North Museum regarding the display of the mummified Egyptian woman known as Irtyru found that many visitors 'did not recognize that she was a real person,' museum manager Adam Goldwater told CNN in a statement."
Soooo…we need to come up with a more appropriate term so as not to offend the "real persons," who have not been around for centuries to endure these offenses.
Okay then, so what is the new approved terminology, replacing the offense “mummy”?!
- "Museums in Britain are now using words other than 'mummy' to describe their displays of ancient Egyptian human remains. Instead, they are starting to adopt terms such as 'mummified person.'"
Oh, for the love of…
That these people do this from the standpoint of intellectual superiority is the funniest aspect of this woke nonsense.
Some museums in Britain are now using words other than "mummy" to describe their displays of ancient Egyptian human remains https://t.co/93rAPGk7hC
— CNN International (@cnni) January 23, 2023
