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A Media Heroine Shrinks

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05.10.23

News Avoidance Syndrome – VARIOUS MEDIA

Recently, former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg was the darling of the press corps. Her claims were splashed across the press as she appeared on MSNBC and CNN. Her two lawsuits – against Fox and Tucker Carlson – had the press salivating. And now?

The Fox suit has been pulled and possibly refiled in New York, with hopes of piggybacking on the Smartmatic case. Her complaints against Tucker are withering, as there are witnesses saying she had raved about her job in the past. Then there is that small matter that while Carlson supposedly had tormented her, she has had to admit that she never actually met him in person.

First Amendment Strike Force – NBC NOW

  • Outrage at a journalist having unfettered speech – from other journalists.

Tucker Carlson came out with an announcement that he will have a new version of his program based on Twitter. This, unsurprisingly, had many in the media upset because they thought they had seen Tucker punished and run off. Among those expressing outrage at what his reappearance could mean was the dependably obtuse Brian Stelter.

Appearing with Thomas Costello, the pair displayed their contempt and obliviousness that they were journalists calling for the limitation of free speech. It always makes for a surreal display:

COSTELLO: Twitter was already under fire for misinformation, disinformation, all-out lies, anti-Semitism, racism before Elon Musk took over and now it’s gotten kind of crazy, right? Seemingly unmoored, if you will. Will anybody be able to police what Carlson says, or is this the point? It’s just a free-for-all?

STELTER: I think this is the point. It is a free-for-all, it’s what Elon Musk wants to provide. This move by Tucker may cement the idea of Twitter as a right-wing website, and we see some users trying to go off to other sites instead.

Just great stuff, gents. You want to actually police the speech of others while completely bypassing the reality of the First Amendment, that it ensures freedom for all to express themselves.

Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO

  • Proof that NPR has their own version of Brian Stelter.

One of the known quantities of NPR's "media correspondent" David Folkenflik is that he does not exactly cover the media (plural) but a medium. He is uniquely focused on Fox News. Yet, even as we recognize him as such, we were still surprised to actually see it lain out on display.

Just in scrolling through his recent reports, it was amazing to see that David is not only uniquely focused on Fox but also positively obsessed. Over the past few weeks and dozens of entries, only ONE does not concern his favorite network.

Anti-Social Media – CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

The CBC was among those who made a dramatic exit from Twitter last month, seemingly finding Elon Musk's treatment of them intolerable. But now, after weeks of little change, apart from Musk removing the "Government-funded Media" labels from select accounts, the CBC has announced they are crawling back to the social media platform.

What is noticeable is that in their continued posturing of disapproval for Musk and the site, there is no explanation for why there was this decision to return. 

Matching Media Memorandum – ASSOCIATED PRESS

It has been made clear over the past couple of years that the media complex in this country is 100% in the bag for the trans community. It is with regularity that we see reports on trans issues dealt with in only favorable and uncritical coverage. Just look at the reaction when the shooter of a Christian school in Tennessee was revealed to be a transgender individual; we were lectured not to judge, and in fact, the community was granted sympathetic coverage. But the AP has taken this to a new level. (A lower one.)

In Washington state, legislators have passed a law to lend government support for trans youth, at the exclusion of the family, when deemed necessary. The AP not only sees this as common-sense legislation, but its approach is also so favorable that they declare these youths need to be shielded FROM their mothers and fathers, and they are bold enough to place that in the headline.

"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature with coverage of the deeply flawed aspects of journalism in the nation, where Brad Slager looks to bring accountability to the mishaps, malaprops, misdeeds, manipulations, malpractice, and manufactured narratives in mainstream media.

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