OPINION
Premium

The Press Supports Hunter As He Flips Off Congress

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Dec 13, 2023
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

12.13.23

Stealth Story Evolution – THE NEW YORK TIMES

  • Don't worry, Hunter, they have your back.

In covering today's hysteria in Washington where Hunter Biden appeared at Congress – but not to testify to Congress – Luke Broadwater did the bidding of the Biden administration. Hunter gave a press conference before flouting the congressional subpoena and made some comments regarding his legal wranglings.

However, when Broadwater relayed Hunter's quote in his article and his post about the presser, he chose to omit the word "financially," altering the intent significantly. The editors have since re-added the word (the article only sports an "updated" time at the top), but Luke's subterfuge is caught here.

News Avoidance Syndrome – VARIOUS OUTLETS

Recommended

Why Can’t Kamala Harris Prove She Worked At McDonald’s (And Why It Matters) Derek Hunter
Here's What Happened When JD Vance Stopped at an Iconic Sandwich Shop Near Pittsburgh Matt Vespa
  • Ummmm…so only ONE reporter is interested that the president knew ahead of time his son would place himself in contempt of Congress?

At the White House press briefing, following Hunter's appearance on the steps of Congress, Peter Doocy asked Karine Jean-Pierre about Joe Biden's knowledge about his kid skipping out on the subpoena – and the White House Press Secretary confirmed that Joe had prior knowledge on what Hunter was going to say.

This seems…important…?

Legalized Press-titution – AXIOS

As Hunter is enduring this woeful time, Alex Thompson arrives to let us know all about the heartfelt strife and emotional turmoil the president feels, as well as the strain all of this delivers to the Biden family. This is such an embarrassingly weepy profile piece that turns laughable when you consider one thing: Just try to imagine this type of report showing up in the press regarding the Trump family and his numerous legal challenges.

Body Checking the Fact-Checkers – NEWSGUARD

NewsGuard is one of the ongoing entities that positions itself as an unbiased arbiter of what is and is not misinformation, and it grades news outlets on its perceived level of trust and accuracy. The Townhall Media websites are very familiar with this outfit's behavior toward our content; just be assured, they approach things as negative.

Over at Newsbusters, Joseph Vazquez took a measure of the grades handed out by NewsGuard and the political position of the outlets, and unsurprisingly, those news sites with a left-leaning approach were granted a far higher rating.

Stolen Validity – HARVARD UNIVERSITY

The fallout from the fiasco of a performance before Congress continues for Harvard's President Claudine Gay. Amid the mounting claims of her having numerous examples of plagiarism in her written works comes this nugget from the New York Post. It turns out the outlet had been on this story beginning months ago, but when it reached out to Harvard for comment, there was a curious reaction from the school.

Instead of treating these examples of intellectual theft as disqualifying actions by Ms. Gay, the school told the paper it had conducted its own investigation and also allowed Gay to go back and make corrections to her papers and thesis:

Harvard only disclosed the investigation when the university’s governing body, Harvard Corporation, said it unanimously stood behind her despite a firestorm of criticism for her evidence to Congress. The Post contacted the university on October 24, asking for comment on more than two dozen instances in which Gay’s words appeared to closely parallel words, phrases or sentences in published works by other academics.

Then things took a turn. The school, whose president is claiming to be something of a free speech absolutist, delivered a legal threat to The Post for daring to question Claudine's professional work:

And days later, on Oct. 27, The Post was sent a 15-page letter by Thomas Clare, a high-powered Virginia-based attorney with the firm Clare-Locke who identified himself as defamation counsel for Harvard University and Gay.

Gilded Reframe – DEADSPIN

  • Deleting and tossing this mess into the memory hole would be the preferred move.

Deadspin has completely revamped that despicable hit piece where it accused a nine-year-old Kansas City Chiefs fan of racism. It took very little time for the claim of "blackface" worn by the boy to become completely debunked, then the charge of "hate" toward Native Americans was also blown into confetti when it was found the lad and his family are from the Chumash Tribe of California. 

After more than a week of no response and following an "update" that tried to have it known the Chumash did not necessarily approve of the kid wearing a headdress, the site has completely gutted the piece and issued a lengthy editor's note. Gone are all references to the boy, and the photo has also been stripped away:

Unfortunately the article drew attention to the fan, though our intended focus was on the NFL and its checkered history on race, an issue which our writer has covered extensively for Deadspin. We regret any suggestion that we were attacking the fan or his family. To that end, our story was updated on Dec. 7 to remove any photos, tweets, links, or otherwise identifying information about the fan.

This is a laughable attempt to appease the family and avoid legal trouble. Saying "Unfortunately" suggests it was unintentional to target the boy when he was referenced directly in the headline, the subheader, and the opening paragraph of the piece. Additionally – while still leaning on the offensiveness of the kid wearing a feathered headdress – nowhere in the new copy is there mention made that he is himself a Native American.

"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.