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Pre-Written Field Reports – CBS NEWS
On “CBS Mornings,” hostess Gayle King interviewed Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian about this week’s crash landing of one of Delta’s flights upon landing in Toronto. As we have heard, initial blame was placed on Donald Trump for laying off air traffic controllers, except this baseless narrative had two problems; there have been no ATC layoffs (they are actually hiring more), and the FAA does not have any power over CANADIAN AIR TRAFFIC.
So, with those realities destroying narratives, Ms. King has moved on to the next attempted blame, that is Trump is laying off safety personnel. Gayle was corrected on this fabrication by Bastian rather quickly:
The cuts do not affect us, Gayle. I’ve been in close communication with the Secretary of Transportation. I understand that the cuts at this time are something that are raising questions, but the reality is there’s over 50,000 people that work at the FAA, and the cuts I understand were 300 people and they were in noncritical safety functions. The Trump administration has committed to investing deeply in terms of improving the overall technologies that are used in the air traffic control systems and modernizing the skies, they’ve committed to hiring additional controllers and investigators and safety investigators. So no, I’m not concerned with that at all.
All of this information is readily available for a journalist to obtain and had been so prior to this interview, just to clarify.
Recommended
🚨🔥CBS Propagandist Gayle King gets real-time fact-check from Delta CEO after attempting to implicate the Trump admin in Toronto crash:
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) February 19, 2025
"The cuts do not affect us, Gail. I've been in close communication with the Secretary of Transportation. I understand that the, the cuts at… pic.twitter.com/TlJiSFljf5
News Avoidance Syndrome – VARIOUS OUTLETS
Okay, but your data is interrupting our narratives…
On that topic of traveler data that is readily available to the press, there is another standing narrative we have been hearing that is not substantiated. The press is enjoying pointing out the rash of airline accidents appearing in the news. Ponder that for a moment…the people obsessed with airline incidents are noting the increase in news concerning airline incidents. The phrase “cause and effect” comes to mind.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy had to turn to social media to lend the press a hand in crunching numbers. It turns out that the impression of the nation experiencing an elevated number of airline crashes is not held up by statistical data. And just like that, another media narrative is grounded.
There's a growing media narrative that there are more airplane crashes now in Trump's presidency than under Biden. This is false. ⁰⁰Here are the facts: In Biden's first month, there were 57 aviation incidents in the U.S., compared to 35 under Trump.⁰⁰The need for immediate…
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) February 20, 2025
Both Kinds of Standards – THE NEW YORK TIMES
Is this a case of the term meaning anything you do not like?
In a slight bit of trolling, the Trump administration put out a video shot on a tarmac as the deportation of rounded-up criminals was being prepped for takeoff. Lydia Polgreen saw this and declared the visual to be a sign of cruelty and on par with a snuff film.
The crimes committed by most of these felons, such as rapes, murders, and other forms of violence were not cruel…even though those are commonly the types of content seen in a snuff film. No, filming them as they were made ready for a flight out of here was the mean aspect.
The cruelty of this video is breathtaking. It is like a snuff film for the American idea, tweeted from the official White House handle. https://t.co/eq0QYW7vYu
— Lydia Polgreen (@lpolgreen) February 19, 2025
Prose & Contradiction – VARIOUS OUTLETS
They are outraged, but not at ACTUAL press censorship.
As we endure yet another day of cries from the media about the Associated Press being subjected to "censorship" in a vile violation of the First Amendment – because they cannot fly on Air Force One or join the gaggle around the Resolute Desk – there is a notable amount of silence from these very same voices about a case of actual censorship seen in the media.
In Mississippi, a local newspaper – the Clarksdale Register – has been forced by a judge to take down an editorial critical of the city commissioners and the mayor after they filed a lawsuit against the outlet. The local government had no standing, and the temporary restraining order was enforced without even a hearing, but few in the media seem bothered that this is taking place.
Wow: The City of Clarksdale, Mississippi, got a court order yesterday directing a newspaper to delete an editorial criticizing city officials -- without a hearing. Here's the TRO issuing the prior restraint: pic.twitter.com/dIL1AgLhI1
— Adam Steinbaugh (@adamsteinbaugh) February 19, 2025
Low-Octane Gaslighting – ABC NEWS
So the lawbreakers are not criminals, is that the angle you are going with?
Sometimes we almost feel bad explaining to media members how to do their jobs. (Keyword there being “almost.”) Another outlet bothered by these deportations is ABC News, which is taking issue with the deportees being housed at Gitmo. The news outlet is very concerned that not all of those at the location are what they deem to be “high threat” detainees.
As part of Pres. Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration, "high threat" migrants are to be held at Guantanamo Bay.
— ABC News (@ABC) February 19, 2025
ABC News, however, has spoken with the families of migrants who say they're being held there despite having no criminal record.
Read more: https://t.co/mNitOvtrLX pic.twitter.com/fCJi0MMP5j
Sigh.
A few notes here, ABC:
The administration did not promise that only the most dangerous would be held there.
Taking the word of the families of these individuals is not exactly relying on an unimpeachable source.
The very fact that they are “ILLEGAL” immigrants means they have, in fact, already broken federal laws, ergo they have a criminal record.
Thank you for attending our seminar, we hope this assists you in your journalism endeavors going forward.
Gilded Reframe – THE BBC
Now when you said it was editorially vetted before airing, what you meant by that was “not really vetted.”
The BBC is doing some hard scrambling today as it has been revealed there is a severe issue with a documentary it recently made available about the plight in Palestine. Entitled “Gaza: How To Survive a War Zone,” the special features a 13-year-old boy who tours the region and narrates as well. It has now come to light that this lad is actually directly attached to Hamas government leadership.
Despite initially attesting to the editorial control, dozens of members of the British entertainment industry came out to declare the problem with what has been regarded now as Hamas propaganda, causing some desperate passing of the Pound to the production team not being forthright about this connection:
The BBC “had not been informed of this information” by the independent producers behind the doc, the corporation added, following backlash from dozens of senior entertainment figures including former BBC controller Danny Cohen. Responding to the BBC’s apology, Cohen, the former BBC controller, criticized the broadcaster for “throwing the producer of the documentary under the bus.”
...
“Yesterday the BBC claimed they had full editorial control.’ Today it is someone else’s fault,” added Cohen. “The serious questions asked of the BBC remain unanswered: why did our national broadcaster fail to carry out the basic journalistic checks needed to ensure that propaganda from the terrorists of Hamas was not broadcast in primetime?”
Oh dear, this is a major blunder. The BBC admits it did not know that the child protagonist in documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone was the son of Hamas royalty. It blames the independent producer for not sharing this info during editorial checks. https://t.co/0Ypw5yXvCG
— Jake Kanter (@Jake_Kanter) February 19, 2025
