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The LA Times Says a TV Star Is No Good for Hollywood

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  May 20, 2026
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

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Low-Octane Gaslighting – THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

  • Yes, they are STILL whining about that…

Over at the Pentagon, the journalists who are not given free rein of the building are grousing about it. Yes…still. For the latest, we have Konstantin Toropin, who is grousing that the workers in the Pentagon food court are allowed to perambulate around without chaperones.

The first response to this is, of course, that these are not people prone to rush to the TV cameras and laptops to expose state secrets. But the real comedy in this petulant mewling from Toropin is that he needs to ignore two intertwined realities:

Those workers pledged not to reveal sensitive details, and most of the press rejected that same mandate.

Demo-lition Project – WASHINGTON POST

  • Technically, they ARE experts at failing news outlets.

There has been a joint effort from many outlets this week to detail how The Daily Wire has fallen from its elevated perch among the most-trafficked outlets of recent years. We get the glee many in the press might get from this, but it is quite difficult to swallow this from the Washington Post, the outlet that has culled a bulk of its staff, seen circulation and subscriptions evaporate, and is losing about $100 million annually.

Yeah, maybe taking glee in the constriction of others is not the flex you all think it is. (Note it has the comments turned off, so it does not get faced with throngs of people delivering the reality to it.)

Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – LOS ANGELES TIMES

  • Just so we are clear, you are saying this is a bad thing?

At the LA Times, there was this exploration into the prospects of Spencer Pratt and his bid to run for the mayor of Los Angeles. From the bulk of the piece, it seems that his biggest detraction is that he has no experience and is only a television personality:

Pratt is running on a message that L.A. is broken and only he can fix it — somehow. He has no experience in public office. The spectacle of Pratt’s antics on “The Hills” drove ratings. But how that staged, arguably obnoxious behavior plays out in a political campaign, run by a man in his 40s, is another matter.

To understand: The argument is that a TV star has little to offer in the city that is the center of the entertainment industry, and has seen tremendous production flight over the past four years under Mayor Karen Bass.

Race to the Bottom – ABC NEWS

  • We get the sense this is not the assured demise you are suggesting is the case.

In reaction to the ongoing redistricting battles, ABC News decided to highlight how a cadre of Congressional People of Color could be out of work as a result of the GOP and courts making mapping decisions. It is presented as a dire and racist result – except for all of the qualifiers they use to deliver this grievous result.

“As many as 19,” “almost a third,” and “are at risk” are the strained phrases used to describe the potential losses of seats, and then you see these less-than-assured figures are seen across two election cycles. Hardly the hysterical result they implied.

Anti-Social Media – BLUESKY

  • Having been to a mall recently, this seems spot-on.

You all remember the social media site Bluesky, right? That was to be the new social media hub after Elon Musk bought Xitter and all the wise, urbane, and cultured people and news outlets were migrating there for a better experience. But it did not take long for the controlling leftists to realize that a site comprised entirely of their own kind would devolve into a digital “Lord of the Flies” realm in short order. As a result, many walked away from the hectoring hordes.

Writer Joyce Carol Oates came on to describe her recent experiences at the site, and she aptly described it as “an upscale mall; beautifully maintained, hushed.” Go to Bluesky, and you can almost hear the piped-in Muzak echoing through the cavernous and empty spaces.