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Brian Stelter Is Bothered By the False Horse Whips Story, But Not CNN's Coverage

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Sep 28, 2021
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature with coverage on the deeply flawed aspects of journalism in the nation. We'll look to bring accountability to the mishaps, malaprops, misdeeds, manipulations, malpractice, and manufactured narratives in mainstream media.

09.28.21

News Avoidance Syndrome – CNN

  • "It was kinda-sorta bad reporting, but not when we did it."

It is wildly comical at this stage the way Brian Stelter manages his criticism of the press. CNN's resident media critic just cannot bring himself to be openly critical with the widespread press outlets the same way he is with Fox News. Give him a blatantly incorrect story broadly reported, and you get none of the condemnation he levels regularly at Fox. 

Last week, the press was in hysterics about Border Patrol agents using whips on illegal immigrants, and the story was completely bogus. Yet, as this would have had Stelter intoning every accusation – lies, misinformation, false narratives – had Tucker Carlson said it, he was more sanguine in his condemnation on his Sunday program. "This was a faulty media narrative involving the word 'whips,'" is how he carefully framed the issue. 

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 Then he turned to his reliable sidekick, Oliver Darcy, and the equivocating continued, as he sounded close to critical about the false reports, but not really.

- "Some news organizations were a lot more careful than others. It looked like one thing and ended up being another thing when there was more reporting. I think it's a case where something went viral on social media, Brian, and news organizations said, 'Did we have that?' And they probably should have looked a little more into the matter, talked to people on the ground before perhaps running with this."

They then applaud the outlets for eventually getting the story right, albeit days after the hysterical coverage. This is such garbage for two reasons. One, this allowance to reward news outlets for eventually getting the story correct is something they never allow Fox News to experience. But secondly, they never address the fact that CNN themselves was a heavy player in this misinformation. 

John Harwood was a loud voice of outrage while supporting President Biden's anger. Victor Blackwell had to be corrected on the air about his mischaracterization of the episode. And, of course, the ever above-criticism Chris Cuomo was perfectly at ease describing the event as bordering on the days of slavery, in his characteristic understatement.

Blue-Anon – POYNTER

It is an accepted reality that the media cannot help itself in obsessing over Donald Trump. In just the past couple of days, Stelter and David Frum have been harping on the ex-president, and this is exemplified in the imbalance of criticism leveled at the current officeholder by comparison. 

On cue, over at The Poynter Institute, Tom Jones spends column inches making a lengthy excuse for why there is a need to keep covering Trump. The rationale given is entirely based on conspiracy theories. 

"What Trump is saying and doing gives us all an indication of what he might be planning next," Jones says, by way of justification, and then gives more evidence; that is, he quotes numerous others with conspiracies. It is a lesson in obliviousness that they condemn the conspiracies by concocting their own.

Matching Media Memorandum – POLITICO

Echoing Poynter, we get more quotes from Rick Hansen, a foremost expert on election laws, we are instructed. He sounds just a smidge hyperbolic in his looking forward. "You could look at 2020 as the nadir of American democratic processes, or you could look at it as a dress rehearsal," he cautions Politico in an interview. Just recall now as you read his next passage, this is the same media that continually decries the presence of Q-anon and other conspiracies.

- "The rhetoric is so overheated that I think it provides the basis for millions of people to accept an actual stolen election as payback for the falsely claimed earlier 'stolen' election. People are going to be more willing to cheat if they think they've been cheated out of their just desserts."

Yes, that's completely normal and rational thinking on the matter.

Legalized Press-titution – THE HILL

Now, you may regard the idea that Kamala Harris will herself turn the tide of disfavor toward Democrats in next year's election as ludicrous, but do not say that to those at The Hill. They deliver a glowing 1,100-word glamor piece using numerous Democrat operatives gushing over the bice president's ability to lure voters over to her party.

In it, all of one sentence – one sentence – is dedicated to her rampant unpopularity. 

Both Kinds Of Standards – CNN

CNN continues with their curious strident opposition to Herschel Walker running for office in Georgia next year. Last month, Chris Cillizza announcing a Walker candidacy was a nightmare for the Republicans, for no sane reason. Now, CNN is criticizing the man for his lack of availability to the press. Read that again; in the era of President Biden, they are calling it a problem that Walker is limiting his press exposure.

- "The campaign is placing Walker in tightly controlled events and limiting his interviews to friendly outlets like Fox News. Otherwise, Walker's schedule keeps him largely behind closed doors, including during his ongoing 'listening tour' with business and community groups."

Sound at all familiar? Seems a bout of bad timing that this report comes out on the day Biden has no activities scheduled at all. Just ask yourself – when they describe Herschel's limited exposure with, "He did what he is most famous for: he ran like hell," would they ever once consider saying the same of a president who has become infamous for walking away after delivering press comments?

Body Checking The Fact Checkers – POLITIFACT

  • The issue is not the type of eraser being used.

Over at PolitiFact, they must have hurt themselves with this contortion. On the issue of removing offensive monuments, there is a controversy over the famous Stone Mountain carving of Confederate generals on horseback. Many activists are calling for it to be removed...somehow. Given the engraving on the mountain covers three acres of the edifice, this is an involved enterprise.

The fact-checkers pounced on one aspect of the controversy – NO, the NAACP does NOT want to sandblast the carving off the mountain!

Except, as PolitiFact explains, the local NAACP President advocates for removing the carving. So...wait – what is the issue again?

- "Rose said his chapter has not specifically stated that it wants the carving sandblasted off the mountain, but that he believes it could be removed or covered or that it would eventually erode away if maintenance on it were stopped."

To clarify – the NAACP does want the carving removed, but anyone suggesting they want that to involve sandblasting is trafficking in a blatant lie.