10.27.23
Low Octane Gas Lighting – CNN
- There is that trademarked CNN lack of perspective.
The breaking story of the shooter in Maine taking the lives of 22 people in multiple locations is tragic and horrific. But, thanks to the melodramatics from Jake Tapper, we become reduced to the level of having to measure tragedies against each other. Jake had been in Israel, reporting on the outbreak of war there, but as the Maine shooting was playing out, it was decided that he would fly back to the States to cover that story.
There really was no reason to have him on location in Maine, of course, but upon the notification, Tapper had to build it up as a much more important issue – he literally said the shooting was "more violent" than an actual war with hundreds of fatalities daily. For that matter, if that is a figure he sees as being extremely grave, why is it that CNN does not report to any extent that the city of Chicago experiences numbers at that level nearly every weekend?
CNN’s @jaketapper: “Only in the United States would an anchor standing in a war zone have to go back to the United States for the breaking news because there’s something more violent happening there.” pic.twitter.com/ulc5lXZlMT
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 26, 2023
Anti-Social Media – REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION
- Sooooo, we learned nothing from the last debate?
Remember back when RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel was making the bold announcement that the Republicans were going to forego the standard debates and manage things on their own? Good times, that. Also fleeting times, it seems.
The last GOP debate was quite a mess as it featured the journalist Ilia Calderone from Univision. Many were perplexed why Calderone was included, and more questions emerged following her stint as many of her questions derived from a clear leftist point of view. Now, comes the announcement that the third debate, to be held in Miami next month, will be moderated by two prominent NBC News personalities, the "Nightly News" anchor Lester Holt, and newly christened hostess of "Meet The Press," Kristen Welker.
Just in: NBC News is set to host the GOP’s third presidential primary debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County from 8 to 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 8th. pic.twitter.com/uRg31bjHag
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) October 16, 2023
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – NBC NEWS
- Another outlet that prides itself on the truth hiding from uncomfortable facts.
You might recall the story recently of the Philadelphia-based journalist Josh Kruger, who was found murdered in his home earlier this month. Kruger was celebrated as having worked his way up from living on the street to having a job in local government and securing a position as a columnist for a Philadelphia newspaper.
Police arrested Robert Edmund Davis for the murder, and this is where things turn uncomfortable for those in the press. Family members of the accused have stated that Kruger and Davis had been involved with each other, with allegations of drug use, sex, and the possibility of Kruger going public with intimate details of their relationship. In reporting on the matter, NBC News clearly is shying away from the lurid nature of things behind this crime. The outlet promotes Davis as a "Teen acquaintance" and does not explore much at all in the way of the relationship between the two men.
An acquaintance has been charged in the death of a Philadelphia journalist Josh Kruger, who went from sleeping on the street to working for the mayor to writing columns on the city’s most pressing social issues. https://t.co/OsMnBrvd4J
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 27, 2023
Hoax & Change – HUFFINGTON POST
President Biden has come out publicly to say it is difficult to trust the death toll figures being distributed by the Gaza Ministry of Health, given it is under the full control of Hamas. Taking exception to this announcement is Akbar Shahid Ahmed, as he defends the honor of the GMH and, by extension, Hamas. He states, for example, how the WHO backs up the past figures from Hamas…uh, that is, the Ministry of Health.
Of course, to take this stance, Ahmed has to completely ignore and excuse that this same source was behind the 500 deaths at the hospital bombing (which was not actually bombed) and the hundreds said to have perished when a church collapsed from a rocket attack (as the church today is still standing).
EXCLU: Biden yesterday questioned the death toll from Palestinians.
— Akbar Shahid Ahmed (@AkbarSAhmed) October 26, 2023
I reviewed ~20 State Dept cables that cited the Gaza Health Ministry to report casualties & rarely included caveats. In one instance that did, the report said the toll was likely higher.https://t.co/Ox119cwzFr
Pre-written Field Reports – POLITICO
The gang at Politico delivered a similar kind of complaint when it spoke with a trio of Muslim leaders who sat in with President Biden recently during a closed-door meeting with a number of civic officials. They detailed how, in speaking to the president, they expressed disappointment in his comments about not having faith in the death toll numbers that have been coming out:
The Muslim leaders told Biden and his aides that they were deeply concerned about a comment the president made this week at a news conference when he expressed “no confidence” in the death toll statistics provided by Palestinian officials, the three attendants told POLITICO.
It feels a tad revealing that wanting to report truthfully and looking to rely on accuracy in detailing rather important data is being looked at as problematic and concerning.
NEW -- Muslim leaders told Biden they were deeply concerned about a comment he made expressing “no confidence” in the death toll statistics provided by Palestinian officials, the three attendants told POLITICO.https://t.co/eSJTHjmv6K
— Sam Stein (@samstein) October 27, 2023
via @hollyotterbein
Body Checking the Fact-Checkers – VARIOUS OUTLETS
- The need to crack down on humor continues unabated.
To close out the week with a dose of humor, a couple of weeks ago, the gag account @StevenVoiceOver from The Quartering put out a video clip of the now-famous remote by CNN's Clarissa Ward taking cover during a rocket launch into Israel.
BREAKING : Leaked Audio Revealed On CNN's Fake News Clip 👀🤣 pic.twitter.com/44OkVa49Me
— @stevenvoiceover (@stevenvoiceover) October 12, 2023
Clearly, he was playing off some of the internet chatter suggesting the Ward segment was staged, and the humor is rather evident to anyone watching the clip. But that did not stop the fact-checkers from rising up to defend the honor of CNN. PolitiFact, Snopes, Reuters, FactCheck.org, USA Today, and a number of other news outlets all felt the need to protect us from humor and explain that the audio was placed on top of the footage for comedic effect.
That this was something made evident by the fact that the creators had their logo onscreen the entire time is enough of a tip-off for most sober-thinking individuals.
"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature with coverage on 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.
