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Low-Octane Gaslighting – CNN
A gentle reminder these are the people who rail against alleged misinformation.
To say that CNN is in crisis mode this week would be more than an accurate statement. As a result of Natasha Bertrand’s ridiculous report of inside anonymous officials declaring the Iran bombing mission was not successful. This has inspired the wrath of President Trump, and inspired a fiery press conference from Defense Secretary Hegseth.
As a result, it has been an all-hands defense effort at the network defending Bertrand’s dishonor. Jake Tapper laughably insisted they adhere to facts and ask questions. (The previous four years not counting, right, Jake?) Brian Stelter was delivering his trademarked fractured version of events. CNN’s PR office was compelled to come out with a statement of support for Bertrand’s reporting.
And then the network got ensnared. Nick Fondacaro of NewsBusters saw two more on air declarations that Bertrand had accurately reported on the leaked intel and they insisted she had revealed it was a “low confidence” initial report. Only, she had not done so. Nick pulled up the original article in the Internet Archive and there was no reference, all while she boldly insisted there had been little damage done to the Iranian enrichment facility. Newer updated versions of her report now show revisions had been made.
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When asked about these unannounced changes, the network told Fandacaro that the entirety of CNN’s reporting was what they had referenced, when the complaints from Trump and Hegseth were specific to Bertrand’s reporting and references to the leaked intel document.
WATCH CNN LIE
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) June 26, 2025
CNN "journalists" parrot each other as they falsely claim Natasha Bertrand's initial reporting the Iran strike leak included the facts that it was a "low confidence" and "preliminary" report.
Kate Bolduan proclaims: "...about it being low confidence. CNN reported on… pic.twitter.com/aKDMF4CXs1
Reporting on the Mirror – CNN
Maybe someone should ask Brian to stop helping.
CNN’s media maven was on the air contributing to the network’s defensive strategy, and you could come to the conclusion he was not doing them any favors. While he sounded stern and adamant that they had been committing solid journalism, he added in this little nugget: “We just don’t know all of the facts yet.”
Yes, Brian – that happens to be what people have complained about…
Is this really how you defend the disputed reporting at the network?!
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) June 26, 2025
“We just don’t know all the facts yet.”
This is precisely the point, @BrianStelter — there was the rush by @CNN to impugn Trump’s claims, and you did not have the facts before making the reports. pic.twitter.com/xwKpzuprst
Stealth Story Evolution – NBC NEWS
Making statistics say anything…by fracturing statistics.
Someone get Yamiche a calculator. In promoting an immigration story from her network, Yamiche Alcindor not only butchered the figures but she delivered fractured common sense, and also defied the prior narrative of immigrants committing far less crime than actual citizens.
This 6% figure she cited is actually the number of known convicted immigrant criminals who have been rounded up. It also avoids the factor that even if this is regarded as a too low figure, ICE is not finished with its duties.
But her use of “only” here in reference to illegal immigrant murderers suggests there is some sort of acceptable level of permitted murder.
The new data obtained by NBC News shows that from Oct. 1 to May 31, ICE arrested 752 people convicted of homicide and 1,693 people convicted of sexual assault, meaning that at the absolute most, the Trump administration has detained only 6% of the undocumented immigrants known to…
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 26, 2025
Anti-Social Media – THE BULWARK
Curious when racist deportation comments were made acceptable.
For months now, The Bulwark’s Tim Miller has been on a crusade to highlight what he regards to be unacceptable activity by ICE in rounding up illegals. No sob-story report is beyond his reach and he shares them with a severe degree of contempt and full accusations of racism any and all times it can be injected.
It was with the recent history in place that it became deeply curious why he would think it appropriate to respond to a Matt Walsh post with a vulgar racial slur as he demanded the American citizen be sent to another nation, for some reason.
Go back to Ireland you fucking paddy ass mick https://t.co/6IviFECpsF
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) June 25, 2025
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – THE ATLANTIC
It is entirely possible to write a feature without making it about Trump.
This coming August, the movie “Jaws” will be seeing the 50th anniversary of its release. The film revolutionized Hollywood, creating the concept of the summer blockbuster and seeing studios moving toward a more wide-release format, as opposed to the traditional method of motion pictures playing in different regions of the country. People were so traumatized that going into the ocean was a generated phobia for years.
Oh, wait, sorry – this was not about a rampaging shark on a small coastal village, it is an allegory of the class resentment seen rising in 2016 with the arrival of Trump. There is a need in certain elite circles to inject commentary where it simply is not needed.
The film “Jaws” came out 50 years ago this month. It portrays class divisions very differently from the novel that inspired it, in ways that “anticipated a fight that has arguably defined American politics since at least 2016,” @Tyler_A_Harper writes: https://t.co/GOjZkNR2yd
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) June 26, 2025