06.08.23
Anti-Social Media – CNN
As the news came out that the famed religious name Pat Robertson passed away today at age 93, CNN could not refrain from detailing many of the positions and comments made by the televangelist. His opposition to a host of tender social issues had to be dredged up along with his actual other accomplishments:
“The 700 Club” – named for its goal of 700 members whose pledges would keep the station afloat financially – to push his message of conservative Christian values to people at home, taking aim at gay rights, feminism, abortion and other social issues. Over his many years, Robertson made a series of inflammatory and controversial opinions, and repeatedly said that acts of terrorism or natural disasters were a form of divine retribution for perceived immorality.
Pat Robertson, Christian televangelist and one-time presidential candidate, dies at age 93 https://t.co/ulFKnKHE0u
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) June 8, 2023
Anti-Social Media – THE WRAP
At the Hollywood insider publication The Wrap, publisher Sharon Waxman has a bizarre fixation on the personal life of a former fixture in the town, Gigi Levangie. The former spouse of power producer Brian Grazer, she has since remarried and turned to God with her new husband and moved out to Tennessee.
Just two weeks ago, Levangie lost her new husband to an untimely death, but despite this, Waxman has a deep background expose on her – for some reason. It is a salacious condemnation because Levangie suddenly turned conservative, something rather unsurprising for a newly devout individual. Yet, despite her recent loss, Waxman attacks Levangie for the simple fact that she has become a Hollywood apostate. It is a rather disgraceful display from the publisher.
We have a Stop Everything & Read This story today: Brian Grazer's ex-wife, Gigi Levangie, has gone from Hollywood liberal, best-selling author to full MAGA: God, Guns and hating on homeless, democrats and LGBTQ. Why? Ben Svetkey and I explored: https://t.co/TPqnCYF1Ju
— Sharon Waxman (@sharonwaxman) June 7, 2023
Low Octane Gas Lighting – CNN
- We are sorry, but of all the people…
The reverberations of the departure of another CNN CEO continue to be felt across the media landscape. With the ouster of Chris Licht, many people have been weighing in with their hot takes, and the most tepid of those is from the deposed Brian Stelter.
Look, we understand the man will have some strong opinions about the transformations, but please – hearing him saying anything regarding the truth in the news business is just a little too much to take.
Okay, to be fair – it is a lot too much to take.
The point: There is no way to turn the clock back to 1995. We live in an age that requires a muscular form of TV journalism, one that defends truth against a torrent of lies — and accepts that the truth-telling will spur backlash from some viewers...
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 8, 2023
Legalized Press-titution – ROLLING STONE
For months, the Donald Trump campaign has been on a mission to seemingly discredit themselves as a serious enterprise. Once the Trump camp decided to target Ron DeSantis as a serious threat in the election, it has pushed out ridiculous and embarrassing content.
From the juvenile nicknames to the baseless and frankly infantile attacks, Trump is doing himself no favors, and it only appears to go down from this level. Citing multiple sources from inside the Trump war room, his team is ramping up a strategy to impact the DeSantis campaign; their plan is to trot out accusations of him having a less-than-impressive manhood:
THIS IS HOW petty and aggressively stupid the 2024 GOP presidential primary has become: several close aides and allies to Donald Trump want to challenge Ron DeSantis to a literal d**k-measuring contest. Now, some of Trump’s longtime advisers are even urging him to continuously make reference to the size of DeSantis’ penis, telling him such insults could stick with GOP primary voters and mess with his rival’s head.
EXCLUSIVE: Team Trump, that oh-so-mature gang, has a new strategy ... focus on Ron DeSantis' penis.
— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) June 8, 2023
I wish I were kidding. https://t.co/uM01iYAvWt
Body Checking the Fact-Checkers – POLITIFACT
Here is a supreme example of how fact-checkers are proving to be a tool for the Democrats and the leftist agenda. When sources they do not like are shown to be accurate in criticizing an agenda they do like, the solution is to wrap up the assessment without providing the final ruling.
At issue are reports from Fox News and The Daily Wire regarding Target stores being found to donate to the group Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The main objective of GLSEN is to support students and schools with the transitioning of youths and does so without the notification of parents:
GLSEN supports LGBTQ+ inclusion, affirmation and safety in schools. But critics are focused on one aspect of its advocacy and suggest that Target, by relation, is promoting secret child gender transitions and more.
In the PolitiFact piece, while trying to suggest the sites have exaggerated the group's actions and that Target participates, it does assert that GLSEN, in fact, has these policies in place and that Target has a lengthy history of donating to the group.
In conclusion to the sites being mostly accurate, it was decided that there would be no conclusion given.
You will not see a TRUE or MOSTLY TRUE measurement placed on this entry.
Reporting on the Mirror – THE MESSENGER
- Okay, they are still new, so give them time to get some traction.
There was a recent launch of the new news portal THE MESSENGER from publisher and longtime news figure Jimmy Finklestein. One of his correspondents on campaigns will be Tom LoBianco, who will be on the trail with Mike Pence. LoBianco is a Pence biographer, so with the announcement that the former VP will run for office, he has been rather active on the media tour and was brought on the air recently with Jim Acosta.
The host seems to have a bit of a communication stumble with his bookers, as he introduced Tom – himself a former CNN contributor – by suggesting he wrote for a local paper in Iowa under the same name. LoBianco had to inform Acosta that they are, in fact, a national news outlet.
@tomlobianco discusses Mike Pence in Iowa with @JimAcosta on @CNN for https://t.co/XUV6DGvuUf pic.twitter.com/g82XRCTDIG
— Hollywood on Potomac (@HollywoodonThe) June 5, 2023
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