10.11.23
Anti-Social Media – MSNBC
- Won't you think of other mothers instead of your own children?!
In possibly the height of journalism obliviousness, Andrea Mitchell was conducting an interview with an Israeli mother, and in the course of their discussion, the news hostess attempted to turn to the concerns of Palestinian mothers. In possibly the quintessential example of being incapable of reading a room, Mitchell asked the woman what her impressions were of Israel attacking Gaza. That she asked this of a mother who has two teenagers missing after being kidnapped by Hamas is rather astounding, and the woman did not hold back in setting Mitchell in her place:
I can’t be sympathetic to animal human beings — well, they’re not really human beings — who came into my house, broke everything, stole everything, took my children from their bedrooms and took them to the Gaza Strip. Israel never done that, and it will never do. So there is no symmetry! I’m sorry…
Incredibly, Andrea Mitchell asks Israeli mother, whose two children were abducted by Hamas Terrorists, how she feels about Israel retaliation in Gaza.
— Stop Uyghur Genocide (@FJnyc) October 9, 2023
Part I pic.twitter.com/pU8xq38z3m
Stealth Story Evolution – NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO
The media in the country have largely been on a mission to avoid calling the barbaric acts seen in Israel by Hamas "terrorism." (This, despite our State Department having declared Hamas a terrorist outfit about a quarter of a century ago.) At NPR, they are so opposed to the use of this term that they saw the need to edit the direct quotes of an IDF official who used the word terrorists to describe Hamas, intercutting his comment in order to insert "militants" in place of his actual quote.
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In this updated version of their report, that entire segment from the IDF spokesman has been removed, with no CORRECTION or Editor's Note indicating the edited changes.
Israeli military said Monday it was still battling Hamas militants inside Israel's borders. https://t.co/EX6QFc9D9s
— Houston Public Media (@HoustonPubMedia) October 9, 2023
Anti-Social Media – NBC NEWS
- Creating your own backlash by complaining about the source of the backlash.
In a supposedly scathing report about the ineffectiveness of Xitter's Community Notes feature, NBC News has an exposé on the inner workings of this effort. Or do they? It is up for debate because this article – which relied on the details of a solitary volunteer for the service – was posted on Xitter and…was promptly hit with a Community Notes entry pointing out the flaws in the article's claims.
NEW -->> Hilarious: Twitter’s Community Notes Gets the Last Laugh After NBC News Hit Piece on ‘X’ Is Tweeted Out https://t.co/2CHkiVt5EO
— Sister Toldjah 💙 (@sistertoldjah) October 11, 2023
Matching Media Memorandum – THE ONION
- It is not that the joke is unfunny, it is that it is not actually a joke.
Over at The Onion, they attempted to bring a little bit of levity to the Israeli conflict. Already, you can see the misstep in place. There is the adage that something is made funnier when it has an element of truth to it. But the converse is also true, in that something is entirely unfunny when it is a straight report of what is happening.
What makes this particular attempted insult to Netanyahu truly unfunny is that the very premise of the gag has already been seen by the press itself. Timing, in this case, was everything.
Not to be one to explain what is not funny (subjective as humor is), but this is not a joke for the very reason that @TheOnion literally repeated what the mainstream press has already said, days earlier: https://t.co/eyBZT7ShkO pic.twitter.com/A85YTcYsVn
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) October 11, 2023
Pulitzer Prize Nomination – WASHINGTON POST
This is why we cannot have nice things. It is also why we cannot enjoy – well, anything – without the media finding a way to make it a sign of intolerance.
We are in that time of year when pumpkin spice becomes all the rage, and for those of you who indulge in these seasonal offerings, the Washington Post is here to inform you of a detail – you are a hateful racist who encourages violence!
The outlet that would never dare take something like the eradication of a culture lightly, lets us in on the details that you are participating in "corporate genocide":
The Dutch fleet of 1,655 soldiers and sailors and more than a dozen wooden ships landed at the Banda Islands, an archipelago located in modern-day Indonesia. It was the most powerful military campaign the Dutch East India Company had sent to Asia thus far. After a swift Bandanese surrender, the victors rounded up local leaders. They signed treaties that turned the Bandanese into Dutch subjects, then tortured them for confessions revealing alleged plots to attack the Dutch. Thousands were killed, others enslaved, and many who fled to the mountains were starved out.
To say that dredging up this historical blight in order to shame those sipping on a seasonal coffee is a bit desperate does not need to be said. As the Starbucks PSL (which launched the pumpkin spice craze) is only now enjoying its 20th anniversary, going back 600 years to come up with a reason to make people feel guilty is absolutely ludicrous.
Fall’s favorite spice blend has a violent history https://t.co/Y27O0cPVfG
— Post Food (@WaPoFood) October 9, 2023
"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.
