04.03.24
Demo-Lition Project – THE DON LEMON SHOW
Congratulations, Don, you have replicated your CNN success!
We figured we should check in to see how Don Lemon is faring after he was unceremoniously cut loose by Elon Musk, following the disastrous introductory interview. Let's just say, the Lemon does not rot far from the tree.
After scoring 2.3 million views with Musk, Lemon's second episode was an interview with Kara Swisher, and netted under 200,000 views on Xitter and less than half of that total on YouTube. (Swisher did not even promote the interview on her own platforms.) Since then, he has only dropped further. His most recent episode with Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield drew under 27,000 views. His four episodes after the introduction with Elon have only amounted to 20% of that debut – combined.
‘The Don Lemon Show’ in tailspin after being dumped by Elon Musk: ‘Nobody is watching’ https://t.co/IfWzrEyU8m pic.twitter.com/l8RMooQWxy
— New York Post (@nypost) March 27, 2024
Legalized Press-titution – ESPN
Over at Fox News Digital, former ESPN hostess Sage Steele detailed what she went through when she sat for the interview in 2021 with President Biden. As Steele explains, every aspect of the interview was crafted down to the letter, and she had been commanded not to depart at all from the arduously-prepared Q & A session:
I was told, ‘You will say every word that we write out, you will not deviate from the script. To the word. Every single question was scripted, gone over dozens of times by many editors and executives. Absolutely. I was on script and was told not to deviate. It was very much ‘This is what you will ask. This is how you will say it. No follow-ups, no follow-ups. Next.' … This went up to the fourth floor, as we said, where all the bosses, the top executives, the decision makers are, the president of our company, the CEO, where they all worked.
NEW: Former ESPN host Sage Steele says her 2021 Biden interview was entirely 'scripted' by network execs.
— Joseph A. Wulfsohn (@JosephWulfsohn) April 3, 2024
“I was told, ‘You will say every word that we write out, you will not deviate from the script’ … To the word. Every single question was scripted.”https://t.co/jfPn6ucm2t
Gilded Reframe – NEWSMAX
You know, Gannett just dropped the AP, just sayin'...
Newsmax took some heat on social media when it posted a story that described Donald Trump calling immigrants "animals" and "not human." Problem: He was in fact referring not to immigrants, but to those who came into the country illegally and then committed violent crimes.
After getting blasted over this deeply slanted coverage, Newsmax deleted the post and attributed it to a staffer who had merely reposted a Reuters feed.
UPDATE: Yesterday, @NEWSMAX posted to Twitter/X a @Reuters story that failed to say President Trump's comment about "animals" at a campaign speech in Michigan referred to violent criminals.
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) April 3, 2024
We have removed it from our account.
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – MSNBC
Not so sure it is a wise move to discuss cults when it is someone from this network.
It appears that by now, Joy Reid is assured that her audience expects deranged opinions and wants to see her unspool any crackpot theory, knowing it will be broadcast unchecked. Or, just as likely, her ravings are not getting the same traction and she has seen the need to ramp up the crazy.
For her latest, she had on some "experts" as she discussed the matter of Donald Trump's followers, declaring them to be members of a dangerous cult. Reid goes so far as to compare them to followers of Jim Jones, or David Koresh, which – if she had paused for a moment and thought things through – would mean Trump people will end up killing themselves, paving the way for a Joe Biden victory, which should make her happy.
As we have come to know by now, Joy is incapable of living up to her name and becoming happy.
Donald Trump’s supporters are parroting his persecution complex, leading experts to warn of the dangerous cult of MAGA.
— The ReidOut (@thereidout) April 3, 2024
WATCH NOW: https://t.co/K2RqR1YzZp
Blue-Anon – THE BULWARK
And we are supposed to take this troupe seriously...?
As seen above, we frequently cover how MSNBC has devolved into a dystopian fever-dream network, specifically when it comes to covering what it promises Donald Trump will do if reelected. Look, it clearly feels it's pandering to its audience in that fashion, and hey – it's drawing better ratings than CNN, so who can fault it?
But that being the case, it is not the type of reporting you would want to emulate if you are an outlet that wants to be taken seriously. It is clear The Bulwark does not want to be taken seriously, so here it is explaining that Trump will want a third term, so he will pack the Supreme Court, Republicans will be fine with this, and we will have a dictator for life, or something or other…
Do you *really* think the folks who've rolled over for Trump for eight years are going to stop at letting him run for an illegal third term? https://t.co/Mne6yJ3LJq
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) April 3, 2024
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"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.
