06.06.23
Anti-Social Media – CNN
- The Chris Licht era has achieved its Crisis Mode.
The past few days have only added to the tumult behind the scenes at CNN. First, Warners-Discovery CEO David Zaslav dispatched one of his closest underlings – David Leavy – to CNN to take over some of the operational responsibilities from network head Chris Licht. Then on Friday, Tim Alberta of The Atlantic released an epic profile on Licht that was deeply critical and revealing. Monday morning, Licht held a company-wide conference call that was filled with mea culpas and pledges to win over the trust and allegiance of the workforce.
Then last night, in a sign of how bad Licht's power base has become, Oliver Darcy used his "Reliable Sources" newsletter to cover all of the issues and highlight the problems. That Darcy, who just weeks ago was called to the carpet by Licht, felt emboldened to display the problems and essentially twist the knife on his boss should be seen as proof of Licht's loss of leverage at the network.
Many felt Oliver was possibly about to be escorted from the building by security, but now he is almost sounding gleeful as he details the issues Licht is experiencing:
Whether Licht can actually win over his army of journalists, however, is far from certain — especially now that he is attempting to reset relations more than a year into his tenure, having alienated much of the employee base and squandered the good will he had when he took helm of the network.
In the wake of The Atlantic's explosive story, I've spoken with dozens of staffers across the company. There are a wide range of emotions coursing through the halls of CNN. Some staffers are frustrated. Others are angry. Many are sad about the awful state of affairs that has taken hold of an organization they love.
There is one near-universal sentiment, however, that has been communicated to me: Licht has lost the room.
Chris Licht is vowing to "fight like hell" to win over the support of CNN staff after @TimAlberta's blistering 15,000-word profile of the network chief.
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 6, 2023
The question now is: Can he?
More in @ReliableSources: https://t.co/kWOgvPH2Ez
Gilded Reframe – THE NEW YORK TIMES
- And suddenly, there is a soft approach when there is proof of sympathizers.
First, you need to revisit any time you see or hear Nazis referred to by those in the media. The concept is always uniform condemnation and mostly seen with a call to repudiate anything affiliated with those even suspected or merely accused of affiliation.
Now, consider this telling reaction from The New York Times when verified reports of Ukraine military members being found to be wearing Nazi insignia on the battlefield, possibly supporting previous accusations about that being a reality. The Times appears to be equivocating on Nazis, all of a sudden, describing the photos as presenting " a thorny issue":
The photographs, and their deletions, highlight the Ukrainian military’s complicated relationship with Nazi imagery, a relationship forged under both Soviet and German occupation during World War II.
More broadly, Ukraine’s ambivalence about these symbols, and sometimes even its acceptance of them, risks giving new, mainstream life to icons that the West has spent more than a half-century trying to eliminate.
Surely a good portion of this new approach has to be that it is deeply uncomfortable for the press to acknowledge that President Biden has been snow-shoveling hundreds of millions of dollars to Nazis. That will impact future narratives where they will want to demonize others for aiding Nazis.
The decision by some Ukrainian soldiers to wear patches with Nazi icons threatens to reinforce Russian propaganda used to justify the invasion. It also could give the symbols mainstream life after the West's decades-long efforts to eliminate them.https://t.co/TdhO6pKpFG
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 5, 2023
DNC PR Firm – CNN
- Only pretty bathers are found with the Democrats.
In a breezy daytime segment, Jake Tapper and Brianna Keilar were discussing the growing list of GOP presidential candidates. Keilar made a comment that she feels the field is getting too large, envisioning it like too many people piling into a jacuzzi and hitting a capacity limit. Tapper made a departing comment to the hostess about the imagery she had planted in his mind.
Watch as @JakeTapper struggles with the image of the GOP field all being in a hot tub, courtesy of @BriKeilarCNN. pic.twitter.com/2LH86sjMdU
— Lie-Able Sources (@LieAbleSources) June 6, 2023
Both Kinds of Standards – CNN
- BREAKING: Ron DeSantis has a black friend!
In a story they must have felt was automatically disqualifying, CNN detailed yet another DeSantis "scandal" that has less of an impact than a pillow tumbling off of a mattress.
The big reveal: DeSantis appears to be friends with Justice Clarence Thomas! He once praised the man publicly and – get this – they then went out to dinner together!
The laughable aspect of all of this is that in the desire to deliver what is supposedly a character hit, this undercuts the claims across the press that DeSantis is racist. Now, the issue is that he is friendly to a black man the press detests.
CNN has a bombshell report on Ron DeSantis and his "close relationship" with Justice Clarence Thomas:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 6, 2023
In 2020, Justice Thomas spoke at the Florida Federalist Society. There, DeSantis called Thomas the "greatest living justice."
After the event, they went out to dinner. pic.twitter.com/5gAGCApdtq
Prose & Contradiction – DAILY BEAST
- You almost knew this would happen.
Yesterday, we covered how the managing editor of the Daily Beast, Katie Baker, delivered a sneering mean-girls rage-fest of a column demeaning Florida's First Lady Casey DeSantis.
Among the personal attacks positioned as criticisms was calling Mrs. DeSantis a "Walmart Melania," and taking exception to the black jacket recently worn by Casey at an event.
And after publication, it was found that a file photo was unearthed of Baker looking not only less-than-fashionable, but her sloppy appearance involved her wearing a black jacket.
This is the woman who has been attacking @CaseyDeSantis and calling her a "Walmart Melania".
— Rightwing_Vet🐾 (@Florida_Veteran) June 5, 2023
You can form your own opinion. pic.twitter.com/d9EyKjKzzC
Reporting on the Mirror – (Formerly) CNN
- Well, this is sort of like getting work.
There has been a Don Lemon sighting. He has not started a new job but instead has been tabbed to be the emcee of an awards show. Lemon will be hosting Emil Wilbekin's 7th annual Native Son Awards at Barry Diller's IAC building in New York:
For this year’s awards, we really wanted to shine a light on those who are using their platforms to bring visibility to all the beautiful ways in which Black, queer men show up in the world.
Don Lemon to host 7th annual Native Son Awards https://t.co/GzQhDN6hHL pic.twitter.com/G2b9a49M3i
— Page Six (@PageSix) June 5, 2023
"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature covering the nation's deeply flawed aspects of journalism, where Brad Slager looks to bring accountability to the mishaps, malaprops, misdeeds, manipulations, malpractice, and manufactured narratives in mainstream media.
