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The Daily Beast Has the Most Ironic Failure of the Year

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Sep 05, 2023
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09.05.23

Anti-Social Media – WASHINGTON POST

  • If you want to see a representation that typifies the press caught in the snare of their making, regarding the Hunter Biden laptop, we give you Philip Bump.

The Washington Post's leading columnist Philip Bump appeared on the "Comedy Cellar" podcast with Noam Dwormin, and he (unfortunately for him) had to face the questions that have been leveled at the media complex in general regarding The Laptop From Hell and the cover the press has run for President Biden on this issue. What has been made clear, not just from the standpoint that the laptop has since been verified, is that the press has selectively chosen not to investigate this story, partly because it looks horrendous for Biden but also because it exposes the complicity in the media complex.

Dwormin calmly asked Bump specific questions on tape and video (again, unfortunately for him) regarding the specifics of the laptop but also the mounting evidence that has come out regarding Hunter's financial entanglements and how directly President Joe was in the know and involved. Bump was left stammering.

Bump became incensed enough that he walked off of the podcast. He then went on Twitter and delivered a rant of a thread, attacking Dwormin and appearing borderline unhinged. He deleted the thread later, but Dwormin responded to the attacks in a rather calm and professional manner with a lengthy explanation of things.

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The striking aspect in this is not so much Bump's hysteria and subsequent melodramatics. It was his answering – or lack thereof – when presented with basic facts of this ever-growing story. He harbors no interest in getting to the heart of the story, has zero curiosity about emerging details, and clearly would prefer the story simply evaporate and never need to be addressed again.

His pointed and incurious repetition of "I don't know…I don't know…" when presented with facts calls to mind a movie soundtrack cut from a comedy classic.

Hoax & Change – THE DAILY BEAST

  • This reaction is rather muted across the media complex, considering how much they lash out at "fake news."

Consider first all the foaming at the mouth we see across the news spectrum about fake news and disinformation. Next, reminisce about the broad industry attacks on Fox News for being disreputable and trafficking in false news reports. We call that up because you need to have that as a basis as you consider the widespread silence regarding a hilariously inept dose of journalism we were delivered over the holiday weekend from The Daily Beast.

The setup: The outlet Real America's Voice published a recorded interview with Donald Trump conducted by John Solomon. The playback that was posted had been somewhat technically corrupted. The playback was glitchy and the quality was such that some speculated that the whole enterprise had been generated by AI. Even after Solomon answered the accusations with confirmation that the interview was legitimate and that he did, in fact, speak to Trump, The Daily Beast said otherwise:

Solomon, a former Fox News contributor and a key architect of Trump’s Ukraine conspiracy that led to the ex-president’s first impeachment, boasted on Thursday night that the little-watched network had scored an “exclusive” phone interview with Trump. However, immediately after the conversation began, it was clear that something wasn’t right.

The outlet's media reporter Justin Baragona – a frequent critic of Fox News and conservative outlets – cited an interview conducted with the owner of Real America's Voice, Robert J. Sigg. According to Baragona, Sigg was conducting an internal investigation and called for Solomon "to go through additional training about journalism practice and how to present the facts and truth to the American people." Very harsh words for the noted newsman. Also, those were fake words.

It was later revealed that the interview was not actually with Robert Sigg. The outlet had been completely duped by an imposter.

To recap: The Daily Beast had very harsh criticisms of John Solomon while alleging he had been fooled by a fake interview. For proof, Justin Baragona offered up an interview with the RAV owner that itself was completely fake.

You could not script a more ironic scenario.

Gilded Reframe – ROLLING STONE

  • Yet, no comment at all about the Nazis having an avowed affinity for Joe Biden…huh, how about that.

The idiotic cosplay Nazis emerged again in Florida over the weekend, yet there was a notable change in their shrieking and a very blatant change in the coverage in the press. Recall any time these dolts gather with a crowd too small to field a kickball team, the press rages loudly about how Nazis are taking over Florida with permission from Governor Ron DeSantis. Yet, this time, the Nazis actually came out and declared they were in favor of Joe Biden, and the coverage in the press had a distinctive new flavor. There was no effort to tie them to Biden (some outlets even avoided the verbal endorsement), and some even posited this was a false flag operation. 

Rolling Stone was among the worst, leaping first with accusations that these were DeSantis supporters, and once it was explained to the journalists what had been spoken at this sub-rally, the article was altered, and the promo tweet was taken down:

The original version of this article quoted a marcher as saying, ‘We’re all DeSantis supporters!’ without including his second remark, ‘F*** Ron DeSantis! Ron DeSantis is a joke. Ron DeSantis is a joke.’ The story has been updated.”

Pre-Written Field Reports – PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE

  • "We already know the truth; we just need someone going on the record to prove us correct."

At PBS, they are working on a feature concerning laws in states that affect the transgender community. PBS knows for certain that these new laws are a violation of the rights of trans individuals – they just need to find the people who have lost these rights. So, the news outlet has put out the call for anyone to come forward and give testimony that will actually support the position the outlet has already taken with this story.

The amusing part is where they refer to this as "reporting" and not "propaganda."

Reporting on the Mirror – DISNEY CORPORATION

The Disney Company has been going through a slog of bad news for over a year. The company has been failing across numerous media, having lost some favorability with the public after entering into the political arena, seeing its woke features dismissed by audiences, and its stock losing about half its value over the past year. Now, more problems appear to be mounting.

A new carriage dispute has arisen with Spectrum, and as of this month, the cable provider has removed all Disney-owned networks from its channel packages. This affects a variety of viewing options, from The Disney Channel, the FX Networks, Free Form, and others – but one looms largest. 

The fact that ESPN has gone dark on the weekend that college football begins and one week ahead of the start of the NFL season means that serious implications exist on both sides of this cable feud. In this lose-lose scenario, it means football fans are likely to turn to alternate viewing options to see games, but if a guess had to be made, it might be a good bet that Disney stands to lose more.

Looking at the carriage rates and that Spectrum services over 14 million accounts, the company is facing a monthly loss of $125 million a month – and that is just on ESPN going dark.

Low Octane Gas Lighting – CBS SPORTS

  • Say, Dennis, you should get the tape of the entire press conference you are criticizing.

The weekend saw one of the more entertaining upsets in college football when the unranked Colorado Buffaloes defeated the #17 TCU Horned Frogs. Many a reporter did not give Colorado much of a chance, with new head coach Deion Sanders having revamped a vast majority of the roster in the pre-season timeframe. Sanders was vocal in the post-game press conference, noting how many in the press had denigrated him and his team's chances before the start of the year.

CBS Sports writer Dennis Dodd had some strong words of rebuke, suggesting it was wrong for the coach to bring up these complaints, instead suggesting he should have focused on the team and their performance.

Only problem here, Mr. Sportsreporter: Sanders did, in fact, praise his team. He did so extensively, noted players and components of the squad, and had plenty to say about TCU as well. 

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