"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.
08.03.22
Pre-Written Field Reports – CNN
The bothersome and growingly inconvenient January 6 commission results are starting to have a ripple effect on the primaries, as more GOP members who opposed Trump are facing election ousters. After another was sent packing by voters – Peter Meijer from Michigan – the media is left to reclassify things in order to maintain the narrative.
Jay Nordlinger tried to declare those like Liz Cheney and Meijer are not moderates but traditional conservatives. And Jake Tapper felt the need to weigh in on the matter.
An odd feature of this era where such labels are applied lawmakers such as Meijer, Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney — far more conservative than many of their MAGA critics on actual policies and beliefs, just unwilling to sanction Trump’s Election Lies or excuse Jan 6. https://t.co/QNxKPxXU1Q
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 3, 2022
Meijer, who voted in favor of gun control, trans rights, banning "assault weapons," and other left-of-center items is today considered a "conservative" for taking up with Democrats. Suuuuurrrree, Jake.
Presentation Paradox – WARNER BROTHERS / DC FILMS
- They owned CNN+, correct?!
The wholesale makeover of many of the internal frameworks within Warner-Discovery Media continues – and it continues to shock others with the money involved. The announcement was recently made that the movie studio planned to completely shelve its impending release entitled "Batgirl." Warners announced that the film would not be given a theatrical release nor even be seen on the company's streaming service HBO Max.
This was rather jarring to fans since the film was finished with filming and was being finished in post-production. The other shocker: It cost at least $90 million to produce. That is a huge sum for a studio to just eat, but word is the test screenings were horrific, so the studio decided to just take the loss.
A minute after this story posted got a call from a rival studio exec who was floored by move. "Worked in this town for three decades and this is some unprecedented shit right here." https://t.co/A3aBLPulWz
— Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) August 2, 2022
Anti-Social Media – CNN
CNN consistently struggles to notch any program in the top 25 in the ratings – and that is just among the cable news channels. Across the board, their programming has been slumping far more than MSNBC, and well behind Fox News, which has actually shown growth this year.
The result is that the profits have dipped significantly, falling under $1 billion for the first time in six years.
SCOOP — CNN is on pace to dip below $1 billion in profit for the first time since 2016 amid crashing ratings, sources say:https://t.co/10Fw7iofrp
— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) August 2, 2022
(Non)Reporting on the Mirror – CNN
In the "Reliable Sources" newsletter, Oliver Darcy reported on the profit announcement, and he also covered the potential lineup changes in the primetime schedule at his place of work, as CNN continues to come up with a solution to fill the gap of the deposed/departed Chris Cuomo.
The hitch; Darcy did not get that in-house information himself. CNN's deputy media reporter had to rely on The New York Times and Axios to get those scoops…about his own network.
- "Citing sources, Ben Mullin reports that CNN 'is on a pace to drop below $1 billion in profit for the first time' since 2016 'amid steep declines in TV viewership...'" (NYT)
- "CNN's 9pm hour has recently 'featured panels of three to four guests discussing the news of the day,' and it may be a preview of coming attractions: 'Chris Licht is considering... a show led by multiple anchors,' Sara Fischer reports..." (Axios)
Artisanal-Crafted Narratives – WASHINGTON POST
Journalists are often positioned as being condescending coastal elites. This piece from Washington Post writer Andrew Van Dam just reeks of that privileged attitude. Van Dam is a data reporter and he wanted to explore the definition of the Mid-West, and he embarks on this quest by first noting others who ventured a guess on this ill-defined region; referencing Vox, FiveThirtyEight, and CityLab does make you sound any more the flyover country explorer.
Van Dam decided to draw up a map of this area of the country based on the listings and language used by those listing properties on the Airbnb website. Then he listed the most descriptive items used. Lots of fish, referenced by those rubes!
The Post analyzed more than half a million Airbnb listings to figure out the most Midwestern things ever. (It’s actually a certain fish.)@andrewvandam used the listings to calculate how the heartland describes itself.
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 2, 2022
Here’s a thread on how he did it: https://t.co/rI3JhXdZnn