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CNN Cannot Find Time for Buttigieg Questions

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Dec 13, 2022
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 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.

12.13.22

News Avoidance Syndrome – CNN

  • We only had a long, ponderous segment; there was no time for…a second topic to discuss.

During the morning show at CNN, the cleverly-named "CNN This Morning," Don Lemon and the ladies are still looking to build that brand up into something significant. While improving only slightly over the previous morning show, "New Day," this new iteration still does not crack the half-a-million-viewers plateau. This latest example might be one explanation as to why. 

Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was on remotely and lingered on the air for a lengthy segment dominated by Lemon. He was there to discuss the new marriage protection act that was passed, which does make sense considering his highly touted gay marriage. However, it strikes as being more than deflecting to have the head of the DOT on and not once discuss anything pertaining to his job.

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Buttigieg was never asked about gas prices, the recent train strikes, or the emerging scandal of the man who boldly pledges against negative environmental impacts discovered to be flying on private jets dozens of times at taxpayer expense. He was on for over ten minutes, but not once would they deviate away from the marriage issue and Secretary Pete's home life. 

Stealth Story Evolution – WASHINGTON POST

In what is just becoming a habit at the Post, once again, the outlet has been found to be editing published pieces on the sly. The latest comes in their report on Twitter's release of files from Elon Musk, and how this has led to former executive Yoel Roth needing to relocate from his home over safety concerns. Musk is alluded to being responsible as a result of his releasing internal messages from within the company. (No mention is made of times Roth was confronted with people specifically doxxed with their home details becoming exposed and his refusal to take down the dangerous posts.) 

Then the article turns to who specifically is releasing the documents. Musk has used as his conduit journalists Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss to send out packets of pertinent files. That these two have angered other journalists in doing so has been rather apparent. At WaPo, they did not even try to hide their disdain.

Then, once again, only after being called out by other outlets, the paper went in and struck that risible use of "conservative" from the piece, and did so with barely a notification. The only note attached to the article now says that it has been "corrected," without any specific reference noted.

Blue-Anon – MSNBC

  • Now maybe stepping back and actually thinking this through would be a helpful move.

Given this is Joy Reid, we are not expecting high-minded commentary. It just becomes amusing when we are greeted with pure emotional ravings absent anything approaching pragmatism. In her latest vocal fusillade against Governor Ron DeSantis, Joy addresses the move by the governor to limit the transforming operations on underage children in the name of "gender-affirming care." Bear in mind, these are journalists lobbying for the removal of organs on youths, when if these children of the same age were brought in to get a tattoo, the parents would be arrested.

What makes this asinine stance of Reid become elevated into the hysterical realm is that she accuses DeSantis of attacking children and the poor, all in the name of appealing to the 4-Chan crowds. She never comes close to explaining what is to be gained by allegedly going after these segments. She also does not consider the paucity of support she claims he would gain from online trolling platforms – unless there is a massive voting bloc on 4-Chan previously unrealized that will launch DeSantis into the White House in two years.

Low Octane Gas Lighting – THE NEW YORK TIMES

The New York Times got an early jump on the end-of-the-year posts by releasing its huge list of "The 93 Most Stylish People of 2022." This being high fashion, some daft entries were sure to be included. But exactly who on Earth would ever use the words "style" and "John Fetterman" together in the same sentence?!

Reporting on the Mirror – WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS ASSOCIATION

  • Any group that would have them as a member…

The WHCA holds itself up as a stalwart organization of journalism and maintains a high degree of ethics and professionalism. We are not saying that they do these things with any measure of success, just that the group tried to cloak itself with these august characteristics. Frankly, we view them as a hive of villainy, but the group is free to operate as it sees fit. We do see a recent decision that calls some of their claims into question, however.

Allison Gill came out with a curious announcement on her writing account. 

There she operates under the name "Mueller, She Wrote." If the WHCA wants to uphold high journalism standards, it would seem a bit contradictory to take in someone prone to wild conspiracy theories on the regular. She has promoted numerous daft theories in the recent past, including claiming knowledge that emails have been planted on Hunter Biden's laptop. Her latest was saying that Elon Musk was "Dehumanizing a group of people in preparation for their extermination." That was posted just prior to boasting about her membership. 

Another problem: She writes for and hosts a podcast under the banner of MeidasTouch, a Democratic Party-connected Super PAC. This would be in direct violation of WHCA bylaws, restricting those affiliated with PACs from becoming members. Gill appears to have picked up on this detail, as the link affirming her connection with the group has now been removed from her bio.