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The NY Times Delivers a Fiasco of a Headline; the Press Continues to Struggle With Wartime Success

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Apr 06, 2026
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

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Reporting on the Mirror – THE NEW YORK TIMES

  • How…HOW did that get by the publishing process?!

It was on Friday afternoon when shame fell onto The New York Times. The outlet managed to cover the recent comments about NATO made by President Trump, and the headline blared, “A North American Treaty Organization Without America?” While the paper came out to address the issue, there was a small matter with a correction: This was in the print editions, and could not be corrected until Saturday.

There has been heavy criticism and mockery, as well as many in the press circle wanting to explain away the error. (The copy editor was “tired” is a favorite.)

What is revealing, however, is that in the media environment, there is more effort to deflect or defend this error. Were this seen from Townhall Media, Fox News, or other right-of-center outlets, the press condemnation would be swift and loud.

Stealth Story Evolution – DAILY MAIL

  • They don’t seem to like it; best to kill and redo the entire thing!

After the news came out that the second airman who was shot down in Iran had been successfully recovered, you got the sense that some in the press were actually cheering to see more U.S. failure.

As news of the mission was exposed, the Daily Mail took a rather negative approach in its coverage, highlighting the challenges and what went awry, as it said numerous lives were nearly lost and the mission was close to being a failure.

After receiving harsh blowback on its piece, there was a distinct shift, as the posts were killed, the headline recrafted, and edits made to the article to appear a touch more positive.

Anti-Social Media – NATE SILVER

  • Failing to question the veracity of the data while claiming the data questions the veracity of Xitter.

Nate Silver generated all manner of reactions when he posted a graphic allegedly showing the reach many Xitter accounts have on the social platform, as well as the political positions of those accounts. It was shown that there was an imbalance with “too many” right-leaning or MAGA accounts, as he explains, this shows how the platform is “broken.”

Then you look into the details. A smattering of the accounts peppered between the red and the blue were gray, indicating they are “neutral.” These included Russia Today and Al Jazeera. Then you see one of the red circles belongs to Jackson Hinkle, the founder of the American Communist Party. This is enough to go ahead and dismiss the entire chart.

Low-Octane Gaslighting – CNN

  • Bearing false witness on Easter weekend – for shame, Jim.

Jim Sciutto is in Israel for the holy days and felt the need to display his criticism of the leadership by showing how the government is blocking access to many of the holy sites.

He posted a pic of the Western Wall, stating that only 50 people are permitted in at a time, but that was not what he did. The picture he posted was not in fact the Western Wall, and after being called out, he scrambled to give new explanations for his deception. The journalist also left out that the reason for the limited access by the government was for safety reasons, considering the timing of the Iranian conflict.

Legalized Press-titution – TIME MAGAZINE

  • The latest example of history beginning when Trump took office.

It has been consistently amusing to watch the media falling over themselves to rave about Bruce Springsteen’s opposition to President Trump. Our favorite position might be that if Trump makes mention of the dinosaur rocker, he is said to be consumed and obsessed over The Boss, even though Springsteen has basically not shut up about Trump since his reelection campaign.

As Bruce embarks on a new tour, he has been selling this as an audacious call of opposition to Trump, and Time seems to think that a music act coming out to verbally criticize the leadership is somehow a historical act of defiance, despite generations of this sort of thing being seen on the regular.

Race to the Bottom – SKY NEWS

  • Your checkbox activism actually diminishes the mission you are raving about.

As the Artemis II flight around the moon was underway, Sky News science reporter Thomas Moore felt the need to highlight the color and gender makeup of the crew involved. He noted how the Apollo missions involved “all-white men.” He seems very pleased that this is a “much more representative crew,” as if that is more important than skill sets and capability.

Yes, those white men who accomplished things never before realized were a real disappointment; we have to guess. He even says of the Artemis II crew, “they are going for all of humanity, this time,” so those white men who set foot on the moon apparently did it for only a select group of Earthlings. Or, maybe the lesson is they were not actually humans…?