OPINION
Premium

Biden Arrests a Journalist

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Mar 01, 2024
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

03.01.24

First Amendment Strike Force – THE BLAZE

This morning, Steve Baker, an investigative reporter from The Blaze, turned himself in to FBI agents, in order for them to cuff him and transport him to a courthouse to finally face his previously undisclosed charges. The list of charges is rather laughable, considering Baker walked into the Capitol following most of the melee on January 6 and primarily took footage of the after-effects:

  • Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority

  • Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds

  • Disorderly conduct in a capitol building

  • Parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building

These charges mirror those of other journalists charged for reporting and recording events that day. Beyond the egregiousness of the DOJ charging a reporter – who has been giving them a black eye with many of his disclosures about that day – is the selective nature of who it is charging. Contrast Baker's arrest for reporting with Luke Mogelson, who had shot footage from that day as well, shown at The New Yorker. Mogelson was side-by-side with rioters, entered the Capitol as they breached the building by climbing through a broken window, and was alongside those who first broke into the Senate chambers. Mogelson has not faced any charges.

This is disturbing to see from the DOJ, and the members of the press standing silent on this matter are shown to be partisan in their stance.

Recommended

Black Voters Have a New Nickname for Harris After She Fled on Election Night Mia Cathell
So, Now It's Okay to Challenge an Election Result Matt Vespa

Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – NBC NEWS

In the continuing effort by the press to downplay the murder of University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley by a twice-released illegal immigrant with a bench warrant, NBC News follows suit with this ridiculous contortion. Looking to downplay the criminal aspect while denouncing Donald Trump, the network comes forth to declare that despite Trump's claims, there is little in the way of data to support that illegal immigrants lead to an increase in crime.

Then, very deep in the piece, they had to make a disqualifying admission: Not many law enforcement agencies record the immigration status of criminals. Well then, guess that explains the lack of supportive data then…

Body Checking the Fact-Checkers – WASHINGTON POST

  • Say, Glenn, there's that word you are using that trips us up.

Wanting to join in on the game of reframing Biden's border fiasco, Glenn Kessler arrives to attempt to notify us that immigrants are not so criminally motivated, and he finds some obscure egghead study that shows Republicans have a quasi-racist tendency to classify the border crashers in a negative light. Then he delivers this gem of an analysis:

But here’s the rub: There is little evidence that immigrants — or even undocumented immigrants — cause more crime. Still, there is enough ambiguity in the data — or so little hard data — that it’s difficult to point to conclusive findings that would change opinions.

To help Glenn out here: There is a 100% chance that they cause more crime because these arrivals, as you even allude to in your headline, are illegal immigrants. Ergo, they broke the law in the manner in which they arrived.

You are welcome, Glenn.

Legalized Press-titution – THE NEW YORK TIMES

  • Could not find any other authorities on this topic, huh?

We guess if you are a left-of-center journalist, compiling the "best" of the late night talk hosts is a pretty plum gig if you can land it. Still, if you are working at the esteemed New York Times, and THIS is your job description, well…we won't judge.

Still, delivering this headline underneath the masthead of The Grey Lady is not exactly bolstering the reputation of the paper.

Low Octane Gas Lighting – CNN

With all the negative news about electric vehicles coming in lately, CN's Peter Valdes-Dapena turns just a bit desperate. More automakers are coming out to announce they are scaling back on their EV production after losing billions, the market is not supported with sufficient charging stations, and even Hertz Rental Cars announced it is getting away from its EV fleet. But there just HAS to be good news.

Valdes-Dapena looks over the negative data he provides and decides to tell us everything is just fine:

To be clear: The American market for EVs is not collapsing. In the last quarter of 2023, EV sales were up 40% from the same quarter a year before, according to Cox Automotive. In fact, EV sales in the United States hit a record last year, topping 1 million for the first time.

This becomes a classic case of making statistics say anything you want them to say. The sales may be "up," but that is from a lowly baseline that itself was below expectations, and Peter's tout of numbers that are "up" came in below the projections of sales for 2023.

Reporting on the Mirror – CNN

While not at all a definitive report (this is all based on a lone inside-the-network source, after all), and contract lengths would likely mean no immediate moves will be made, this news about what might be going on inside of CNN is intriguing. We covered recently how the new CEO, Mark Thompson, had previously announced the likelihood that the high-water salaries at the network might become restructured and cut down, now comes word that conceivably it could be worse.

In Touch Magazine states that according to its insider, a clutch of the big names are fearful that Thompson could cut them out entirely and resort to lower-rung talent to deliver the news. Names with hefty contracts who are reportedly nervous are Anderson Cooper (with a $20 million annual salary), Wolf Blitzer ($15m annum), and even Jake Tapper ($8m annum).

Another name that makes perfect sense is Chris Wallace, who was brought over for $8 million a year to be on the instantly canceled CNN+ and has only delivered a barely-watched Sunday evening show.

__________________________

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