"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.
05.24.22
Both Kinds of Standards – CNN
During the past couple of years of the pandemic, there have been two traits with Jake Tapper: Stern words for anyone who dismissed Covid protection protocols and displaying hypocrisy on this same subject.
Recall in December, when he went after Senator Ted Cruz for not wearing a mask to Bob Dole's memorial while seated next to Senator Amy Klobuchar, Jake was seated next to her – while not wearing a mask. The month prior, Tapper posted a photo of a CNN pot-luck dinner with everyone huddled and maskless, despite D.C. requirements for businesses. He explained they only removed them for the photo...because ostensibly Covid is not active in the presence of cameras.
CNN explained that Tapper was segregated after his test was positive at the office, and delivered his program from a "flash studio," but it is reported that many CNN employees are seething over his move – the irony being Jake felt the need to broadcast that day's development. He wanted to report on the U.S. reaching 1 million Covid deaths.
CNN’s @jaketapper taped show after positive COVID test— leaving staffers fuming, a report said.
— johnny dollar (@johnnydollar01) May 24, 2022
“This happened in the same week that the country was mourning the millionth death due to COVID.”https://t.co/f0HJpfrAX1
Rules for thee but not for me - CNN pic.twitter.com/yUiNMrjC74
Anti-Social Media – NEW YORK MAGAZINE
- No other non-partisan unbiased advice to give out?
New York Magazine resorted to more partisan hysteria surrounding the swelling abortion issue. Helpfully, in anticipation of the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade, the magazine decided to give readers a primer on where and how they would be able to obtain an abortion. Glossing over the fact that this outreach basically invalidates the prior stance that the pro-choice activists favored infrequent abortions, it is revealing that there was no advisory on how to obtain and use birth control, a far easier and less-invasive technique.
The Supreme Court will likely overturn Roe v. Wade, and the legal right to abortion will disappear in half the U.S. Abortion itself will not — and never has.
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) May 24, 2022
In our new issue, we’ve compiled a practical guide to accessing an abortion, today and tomorrow https://t.co/Y7bHskczdV pic.twitter.com/RfY2IQez3P
News Avoidance Syndrome – CNN
- You cannot expect him to jam-pack all that information into a few words inside a constrained paragraph!
An entry inside his newsletter "The Point" saw Chris Cillizza delivering some troubling political data from a recent CBS News poll. Among the takeaway metrics, he delivered the result that 54% of respondents view the Republican party as "extreme."
Not only does Chris choose to elide the result about the opposition party, but he also fails to supply other data points to cast this in the proper perspective.
It's just as revealing the things they do NOT say.
— Brad Slager ???????? Lifetime Subscriber to CNN+ (@MartiniShark) May 24, 2022
Last night @ChrisCillizza gave details about a new poll where the Republican party was labeled as ''Extreme''.
Not included - Democrats were called extreme by 49%, with an over-sampling of Dems (+5%) and a 2.5% margin of error. pic.twitter.com/pycGlpeMii
Stealth Story Evolution – WASHINGTON POST
- What paper is expected to have the details after two years?!
In issuing a reader survey regarding George Floyd and the ensuing protests, the Washington Post declared that Floyd had perished from a gunshot by police. This error regarding the "I Can't Breathe" martyr was rather blatant, before eventually getting corrected.
Don’t blame a social media intern for @WashingtonPost getting George Floyd’s death wrong, after 2 years.
— Lie-Able Sources (@LieAbleSources) May 24, 2022
The copy on their reader submission form also read incorrectly.
(since repaired on the site) pic.twitter.com/pBgnio30og
Pulitzer Prize Nomination – THE NEW YORK TIMES
- Reporting on what he cannot report on.
It has been 100 days since Joe Biden has held a press conference. The press seems okay with this, rather than resorting to the kind of similar complaints lodged against Donald Trump for years. Therefore, it was big news when Thomas Friedman announced he had a private interview with Biden. Big is subjective, however, considering the entire piece was based on what he was not permitted to discuss.
- "President Biden invited me for lunch at the White House last Monday. But it was all off the record — so I can’t tell you anything he said."
My column: My Lunch With President Bidenhttps://t.co/2JFPOYcZwQ
— Thomas L. Friedman (@tomfriedman) May 22, 2022
