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Taylor Lorenz Butchers a Report with Faulty Journalism Again, and WaPo Cleans up After…Yes, Again

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Jun 03, 2022
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"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature with coverage of 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.

06.03.22

Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – WASHINGTON POST

In the wake of the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial, the social media journalist Taylor Lorenz has a report on some social media accounts that saw increased traffic with the trial coverage and how they profited from it. 

Except...

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In the piece, she cites a number of accounts she tried to contact for quotes, but a number of them have come forward to say that not only had they never been contacted, but Lorenz was inaccurate in the claims made that these accounts had only recently begun coverage of this type. Meh, there were only three major corrections needed in the piece – all the rest of the content is completely solid, trust them. 

Anti-Social Media – WASHINGTON POST

  • Now imagine if he had actually told the joke…

The folks at WaPo might have missed the Lorenz debacle, as they had been wrapped up in a serious breach of journalism ethics under their roof – one of their star reporters had retweeted a joke!

We are not kidding; this was actually some high drama at the paper. Dave Weigel had retweeted a tasteless joke about women, and another writer at the paper – Felicia Somnez – felt the need to go public and complain on social media…that Weigel retweeted a joke. 

This put the paper into action, and Weigel was forced into an apology. Meanwhile, the editors were stealth-editing the Lorenz article and only posted an official Correction after being contacted by Fox News. 

DNC PR Firm – ASSOCIATED PRESS

At the White House press briefing, things have been tough for new Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. After taking over for Jen Psaki, the problems have become worse, as KJP struggles to keep up with Joe Biden's meandering comments every day. 

The latest saw the press corps turning tough – for a refreshing change – as they challenged Karine on the timeline of the administration knowing about the baby formula shortage. But as she was being pummeled with tough questions, KJP received help from one journalist in the foreground. 

- "The uncomfortable-to-watch confrontations continued until a front-row reporter for the Associated Press reminded Jean-Pierre that she had wanted to wrap up by 4 p.m., giving her an opening to leave the podium." 

Pulitzer Prize Nomination – BUZZFEED NEWS

  • Tabulating which celebrities backed which celebrity in the celebrity trial of the year.

In the name of disclosure, I'll have to admit not giving the slightest care about the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial nor understanding why it was so important. But at BuzzFeed, they saw this as deeply trenchant newsmaking, to the extent that a team was collocated in order to track celebrity interest in the trial.

The outlet actually tabulated the stars who "liked" posts on either Johnny's or Amber's postings on Instagram. I have to take it on faith that this is pertinent information. 

Body Checking the Fact Checkers – POYNTER

Thankfully, we have the warriors for truth out there working on our behalf, making sure we are not duped by social media posts. After all, they could waste valuable time verifying the various claims made by Joe Biden and the administration, but in a martyr-like fashion, time has been spent to assure us that the story of a Florida Man turning himself in to authorities for murdering his imaginary friend is, in fact, NOT TRUE but based on a seven-year-old parody account. 

THIS, dear friends, is sweet relief.